Hope on the Horizon
by AngelycDevil
Summary: In ten minutes, you can run a mile, make Mac n' Cheese, and get a manicure. In ten minutes, you can vacuum your room, get takeout from McDonald's, and sign up for yoga lessons. In ten minutes, your life can change forever.
1. Chapter 1

HOPE ON THE HORIZON

by

ContentDevil

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**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Author's Note: **This fic was co-written with Content1 for Fandom4Oklahoma. Since she loved to torture Edward and mess with his head, she wrote all the Edward POV chapters, and I tend to like a bit more action and angst, so I wrote all the Bella POV chapters.

This is beta'd by wonderful Astro2009, who was quick and precise with her red pen which I'm sure y'all appreciate very much. ;-)

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**CHAPTER 1**

**Edward POV**

The emergency radio went off in the nurses' station, the blare drowning out even the constant sounds of heart rate monitors and other life-saving equipment.

"The National Weather Station in Oklahoma City has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Oklahoma City metro area and surrounding counties until 1 a.m. Doppler radio indicates a line of severe thunderstorms approaching the metro area from the southwest, traveling in a northeast direction. Straight line winds of up to seventy-five miles an hour has been reported in counties to the south. Radar indicates the presence of rotation in several cells, but as of yet, no reports of tornadic activity has been recorded. Residents are advised to stay indoors and away from windows until the line of thunderstorms has passed. Residents are also advised to monitor the weather in their local area, and at the first sign of increased intensity or tornado activity, to take cover in interior rooms or shelters.

"Again, the National…"

I tuned out the repeated warning as the other doctors around me in the break room groaned. It was going to be a long shift. The weather was already bad; I'd just finished putting notes into the charts from a minor surgery I'd just completed on a car accident victim. The parents had gotten onto the highway despite warnings of flooding. A bad decision later, they'd totaled their Toyota Camry, and their young nine-year-old had paid the price. Luckily, he had only a broken arm and several cracked ribs. The majority of my time had been spent in sewing up several long gashes on his arm and neck from the flying glass. The parents were lucky; another inch and one of the large shards would've cut his carotid. Danny wouldn't have made it to the hospital alive if that had been the case.

But the alert from the nurses' station, just feet away, told everyone that our craziness had just begun. Severe weather always brought it out in people.

"_Edward…why do we need a house with a basement again?" Bella asked, her soulful brown eyes twinkling in humor at me. _

_She was teasing me about my overprotective nature. I was a little psychotic. Okay, maybe a lot. I'd grown up in Oklahoma City, and I'd been through too many tornado scares in my short life. She was frustrated with me. We'd been looking in the Crown Heights-Edgemere Heights area for several weeks, but nothing really sparked my interest. Bella, however, had fallen in love with every single house we'd visited. One day, she loved the Colonial Revivals; the next, she was determined to go with a Tudor. But for having been a neighborhood since the 30's, not many of the owners had gotten smart and added storm cellars. _

_Storms brought the crazy out in me. _

_My grandfather had died when I was just a toddler and my brother, Carlisle, was going into kindergarten. Pops had been away from his and Grammie's house, visiting a friend to the south of the city. An unexpected thunderstorm had intensified into a tornado. Pops' truck had overturned, and he'd died in the accident. _

_So, yeah… I was a little neurotic. _

_The house my grandparents had lived in since their marriage in the early 30s had been built with a storm cellar. Carlisle and Esme had gotten Grammie's house after her death as I didn't want it. I was determined that the home Bella and I settled into would be as safe. But it was proving difficult, and I knew that Bella and the real estate agent were entertaining dreams of throttling me._

_Lucky for me, and them, we inadvertently passed our salvation. It was an old storefront that stood empty, but the architecture of the building had character. _

"_Hey stop!" I blurted out, then apologized to Irma, our agent, for my lack of manners._

"_Edward?" Bella questioned me as I moved out of the car and looked at the building. Just down the street was the elementary school, and I knew that one of the most highly regarded private schools in the city was not far away. Yeah…I was already thinking that far ahead. But still, the building just seemed to "call" me._

"_What was this place?" I asked Irma as she got out with a questioning look._

"_An old department store. Zack's was the name, I think."_

_It was three stories, which was unusual in the area, but again, it had character. _

"_It's for sale?" I nodded to the old sign in the window._

"_I think so," she replied._

"_Can we take a look?" _

_At my question, Bella's eyes jerked back to the building, and I saw when she fell in love with it, the artist in her seeing the potential. I was imagining the concrete parking lot being torn up for a nice yard. In addition, one of the main streets with shops and restaurants was in walking distance. Like most of the area, it had an old time neighborhood feel. I could imagine people in the 50s walking to the store for their goods, then home down Main Street, passing neighbors on the way, only to stop and talk. You could take the girl out of Forks, but you couldn't take Forks out of the girl. Bella loved to feel like she knew her neighbors. It was why we were looking so close to Carlisle and Esme._

"_I love it," Bella mouthed before she stepped up to me, planting a mind-drugging kiss to my lips._

"_Not gonna work, angel…not 'til I see inside."_

"_Edward!" she growled._

"_Angel…" I purred, guiding her back into the car._

_A week later, our decision was made. It was perfect with its high ceilings, quirky architecture, and old oak hardwood floors scuffed by decades of use. But it was the innocuous door at the end of the hallway on the main floor that had sealed the deal for me._

"_That leads to the basement, where the old heating system and storage was. It is going to cost you a fortune to update everything…" Irma rattled on about the costs, even though I knew the sale would make her a mint in commission. She was, at least, attempting to be realistic with us. She'd kinda taken on a grandmother role with Bella and me when she saw how "young" we were._

_While she continued to talk, Bella looked to me and smirked, waving her hand toward the door, knowing I was dying to go. It was absolutely filthy, covered in cobwebs, and a thing of horror movie fame…and it was perfect. Sunk into the ground, the walls were concrete, and there was more than enough space for us to set up the heat, air, water and electricity…a place for a safe haven._

_Two weeks, my inheritance, and a load of rattled nerves later, we were the proud owners of a "dump", as Emmett put it. We'd at least bargained down to a price where we had Bella's inheritance, from her half of Charlie's life insurance, to fix the place up. Thank goodness Jake, my best friend, knew all kinds of people in construction. He had this large family of cousins and uncles who could fix us right up… well, if they could be bossed around by Bella, because I knew my duty was done. How the house turned out was all up to her._

And it had turned out beautifully, I thought as I poured a cup of the stuff the nurses jokingly called coffee into my thermos. Jake's cousin, Sam, had led the crew, and convinced Bella to turn the bottom floor into several apartments, with separate entrances, to rent out. It would help us get on our feet financially while she finished off her Masters in Art Therapy and I finally caught up with the "benefits" of being a doctor. The way they'd designed it would make it easy to convert the apartments into a play area for all the kids Bella wanted to have "when the time was right." Half of the second floor held our large family room and kitchen; the other side was the large studio apartment that Alice and Jasper lived in.

But the top floor of the large building was my and Bella's personal sanctuary, her artistic flair turning the space into a home. Our bedroom occupied the entire space with an overlarge, custom made bed on a platform, a large walk in closet, a sitting area with couches, chairs, and bookcases, and an elaborate bathroom with tile shower and large garden tub. Bella's "domain" occupied the space near the large window—her art easel standing in the natural light, a multitude of paintings leaning against the walls to dry. I loved watching her paint, often lying in bed and admiring her as the sun fell over her, the brush poised mid-air as the ideas formed in her mind. My favorite, however, was the large stone terrace. We'd done some research and found that Zack's had used it to hold "teas" for shoppers as a way to bring in business. It overlooked a small park behind the building, where I imagined that kids played while their parents shopped… it had been a different world then. But now, it served as my and Bella's personal relaxing spot.

I was allowed only one creative influence, and it was to turn the basement into a shelter for my family, complete with emergency kit.

I smirked down into my coffee, thinking of how Bella had harassed me about it. I'd been so proud to show her the large tub with provisions. The space had been immaculate after Sam's crew had installed all the new plumbing and HVAC stuff, so I'd had little to do other than buy the stuff to put in it. Jake had, of course, suggested that I should make it into a man-cave to escape to when I was in trouble. He and Nessie had a relationship that was as strong as any, but volatile. She put him on the couch at least one night a week, and he usually deserved it. But with my and Bella's schedule, I rarely had time to get that much in trouble—just the typical boxers-on-the-floor and toilet-lid shit. I chose to be a lover not a fighter. Besides, I enjoyed Bella's bed too much to get kicked out of it.

Another loud warning signal blaring from the radio brought me back from my thoughts.

"The National Weather Service has upgraded the severe weather warning for Oklahoma County to a tornado watch. Conditions are right for a tornado to form…"

Speaking of the basement, the area around me exploded in preparation, nurses running to bring patients, as much as possible into the center of the building, I reached into my scrubs pocket and pulled out my cell. Thankfully, even with the storms, I still had service.

"Hey, babe!" Bella chirped into the phone, and I could imagine her tugging at a brightly colored strand of her hair.

"Angel, will you go get Ali and Jazz and get down to the basement, please." Visions of _Wizard of Oz _were spiraling through my mind. I heard her huff a little at my over-protectiveness. So, sue me.

"I'm not at the house, babe. Had to go drop off my research paper off at the prof's office."

My heart froze. "Bella, I need you to go home immediately, okay? The weather is turning nasty, and they are issuing watches for the area."

Another huff. "E, I was going to go by and pick some things up at the store, kinda a celebration for the two of us when you get home…"

Her tone was full of innuendo, and just the sound of the huskiness made my body react. My damn cock was always getting me in trouble at the most inopportune moments. I turned toward the wall, attempting to calm down before I embarrassed myself. The nurses teased me enough about how Bella led me around by it.

"Angel, please…" I whined. Usually it didn't work, but she heard the panic in my voice.

"Okay, okay. I was going to go to that little shop we like for some chocolate, but I _guess_ I can skip it." She giggled before sighing dramatically.

She was so unfair! I knew exactly what she had in mind for that chocolate. Pinching my nose, I thought of a ton of unsavory images, including Emmett's last streak through the park and the sight of his white ass.

Um, yeah... issue handled.

"Just get home before it gets worse, okay?" I wasn't above begging.

She hesitated for only a second, before making me feel better. "Okay, babe. I will." She teased me for a moment before we both said "I love you" and hung up.

Again, I knew she thought I was an overprotective crazy man, but she hadn't lost people like I had to storms like this. If it hadn't been for Grammie getting sick and needing Carlisle, Emmett and me, I don't know that I would have moved back. As it was, I'd barely made it through medical school before I had to come back to help when Grammie had suffered a stroke. It was the first time that Bella and I had been separated since we'd begun dating. We'd made it only a semester before she'd transferred to school here at the college and moved in with me. I was grateful she had, because she'd gotten to spend time with Grammie before she died.

A page had me running toward the ER room; another victim of what I was beginning to believe was going to be a very busy day had been brought in. When I saw the blond-haired woman holding a baby in her arms as the paramedics rushed her husband into the ER, the scene reminded me of my mother, Elizabeth.

I was using the term mother in the loosest terms.

_A knock on the door had me going to answer it, even though Grammie had warned me a hundred times not to open it to strangers. But the woman outside seemed familiar, so that made it okay, right?_

_I decided to play it safe._

"_This is Edward Cullen, may I help you?" I asked in all my four-year-old glory into the door speaker. _

_The blond-haired woman leaned over to press the button to the speaker outside. She was beautiful—I could see her through the glass. Long blond hair fell over her shoulders onto the thing she was carrying._

"_Edward, this is your mama. Open the door, please."_

_Mama? I knew I had one, but she'd left me with Grammie when I was just one and a half. It was when I'd met my older brother, Carlisle. He was three years older than me. Having heard the doorbell, he came bounding down the stairs to take control. At seven, he thought _he_was the grown-up._

"_She says she is our mama," I told him. Grammie was out back, so I didn't know whether or not to go get her._

"_Pfft. We don't have a mother," Carlisle grumbled, throwing open the door to glare at the person on the other side._

_She looked at us with big eyes. I saw her start to cry, but then the thing she was carrying yelled loudly. _

_Without saying anything, she thrust it at Carlisle and then turned to run back down the stairs. He started to yell at her, almost dropping the baby._

_It was the last time we saw our mother… Elizabeth._

I shook my head at the memory, still amazed I could remember it at all. Carlisle and I had laughed about it much later, saying that our introduction to Emmett scared us too much to forget. He'd bellowed for hours before Grammie could get him to the doctor. We named him Emmett after our favorite Dallas Cowboy football player. We should have known by the way he came into the house that he'd be a pain in the ass. Now twenty one, Emmett was living in the garage apartment at Grump's, his name for Carlisle. He'd taken an EMT course right out of high school and was working part-time at it as he went back to school. He wanted to be a physical therapist… visions of torturing unsuspecting souls dancing in his head.

"_I'm not going to be a doc like you and Grump. Too much work. I've got ladies to chase."_

The baby in the woman's arms let out another squall as I ran past them into the room. Unfortunately, not even the miracles of modern medicine could save her husband. My mood was already black when I walked into the nursing station less than an hour later, so the renewed blare of the weather radio had me envisioning throwing the damn thing back up against the wall.

"The National Weather Service has upgraded the tornado watch for Oklahoma County to a tornado warning. A tornado has been spotted on the ground approximately twenty miles south of the city limits, heading in the direction of the city. Residents are advised to take cover immediately."

"Shit!" The word came out of my mouth at the same time as several others in the room. _Bella!_ My thoughts went crazy, and I reached for my phone again. NO SERVICE! My only salvation was the text that had come through before I lost it.

**E – At home. Don't worry. Kisses. B**

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**Bella POV**

I traced the cracks on the sidewalk, imagining patterns in them, connecting the parallel crevices in my head as I walked along the side of a near-empty strip mall. Stephano's was the only store open on Sundays. Wafts of delicious food, chicken fajitas to be exact, drifted through the concrete walls causing my stomach to rumble. I frowned, slightly annoyed at my stomach since I'd just eaten lunch a few hours ago. It growled back, and I rolled my eyes in response. Then, I remembered that there was leftover lasagna in the fridge from last night. _Thank God. _

"_¿Hola, cómo estas?_" I called out as I pushed open the glass door. The doorbell chimed after me.

"Bella! What brings you down here in this weather?" Pedro said as he walked in from kitchen. I shrugged—a couple of thunderstorms were nothing to worry about. A white towel was slung over his shoulder and he used it to wipe his forehead before sliding behind the counter. "_¿Cómo puedo ayudarte?_"

"I came to return your book. Great recipes. I really enjoyed 'em."

"Of course! They're my_tatarabuela's_ recipes. Been in my family for generations." I smiled at the obvious affection in his voice. "Which ones did you try?"

"The beef lasagna, the pork tacos, and the frittatas. My roommate loved me." I winked. Pedro was _very_ familiar with my boyfriend's love for food. Actually, Edward was the one who introduced me to Stephano's when I first moved to Oklahoma, but then I kinda took over since I was the one who cooked. Stephano's was a tiny grocery store/restaurant on the outskirts of our neighborhood. They got the fruits and veggies straight from their family farm every morning, and they carried a lot of _La Vaquita._ I loved their fresh _aji_ which seemed to bring out the flavor in any food, and the stuff they cooked in the restaurant... _Delicioso!_

"Oh, trust me the food isn't the only the reason he loves you," he replied, smirking while returning the book to its shelf.

I laughed. "I sure hope not! I'm heading out. Edward wants me home before the storm hits. _Gracias otra vez por las recetas, Pedro. ¡Te veo después!_"

"_¡Cuídate!_" He called after me as I left, grabbing two flyers since it had already started drizzling. It took a few minutes for it to pick up, and then I was driving through a waterfall. For fifteen minutes, I squinted my way through the driving rain, praying that there were no other cars on the road. For the most part, it was pretty deserted, everyone heeding the weatherman's warning; the few "daredevils" were intelligent enough to drive slowly with their high-beams on.

As I parked under the carport, I realized I'd get soaked no matter what, so I decided to just make a run for it. I grabbed the bag of groceries from the passenger seat and sprinted towards the building, locking the car once I was inside the entry. Running my fingers through my hair, I then shook the water from it. When it wasn't dripping anymore, I twisted it into a bun and secured it in place with a hair tie as I headed upstairs.

When I first moved to Oklahoma, Edward and I stayed with his Grammie for a bit, until she had to be hospitalized and eventually passed away. After that, Edward wanted nothing to do with the house, trusting Carlisle and Esme to take good care of it. He dragged me around town, looking for the "perfect" house while ignoring all the perfectly good options we saw along the way. One thing or another, he always found something wrong with the houses...until we saw the rickety, old brick building. At first, I hesitated. It was beautiful and had a lot of potential, yes. But the amount of work that had to be put in it...

Months and most of our inheritances later, we were proud owners of a home we'd built from the old storefront, and I'd bowed to Edward's wisdom. It was everything we'd hoped for. We rented the main floor rooms to college students since it was not far from here, and our home was also very close to most of the shops and had a very serene surrounding.

I wrestled with the purple coil key chain as I struggled to open the door (I swear, it was the key's fault), letting out a sigh when I finally made my way to the second floor and placed the groceries in the kitchen. I sent a short text to Edward as soon as I got upstairs, saying that I was home safely, before peeling the wet clothes off and heading for the shower. I let the cool water cleanse me for about ten minutes before drying off; I had a fifteen-page essay to flesh. Grabbing a bottle of water and tub of Yoplait, I then settled down in front of the computer. I already had all the research done, so now it was just a matter of putting it all together.

_Tick. Tock._

_Tick. Tock. _

_Tick. Tock. _

_Tick. Tock. _

Time was my enemy, and the creative juices just weren't flowing.

_Maybe I should look over my notes first to get my head in the right place..._

Digging a stack of papers out of my backpack, I tried to organize it in a coherent order. I'd started piling them into groups according to my thesis when I first noticed the deep rumbling outside. I paused for a moment, contemplating if I should turn on the TV and check out what was happening, before I heard the blaring tornado sirens, and I realized what was going on. I rushed onto our balcony to see—thanks to being on the third story—a fat, dark gray funnel several miles away, heading right toward me. Air whipped across my face at painful speeds. For a moment, I was frozen, transfixed with its majesty and raw beauty, before my survival instincts kicked in and I sprinted toward the stairs with my purse and phone, screaming.

Running down the flight of wide wooden stairs, I banged on Ali's door. They'd decided to move to Oklahoma to be closer to us when I'd made it clear that I was not leaving Edward's side. I banged harder on the door when there was no response and took a deep breath as an attempt to control my erratic heartbeat.

"ALICE! JASPER! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" I kicked said door multiple times, trying to ignore the sirens and the roar of nature and focus on my options. I could go upstairs and grab the keys or—

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" A deep, throaty voice yelled from the other side. _Oh, thank God. _I grabbed the frame as my knees grew weak with relief. The door flung open and a very pregnant Alice barreled into my arms.

"Let's go." Jasper slipped an arm around my shoulder and urged me forward. We ran.

I didn't know where I was heading, but apparently Jasper did. I just gripped Ali tightly in my arms as we moved down the next flight of stairs, almost breaking her skin with my hold, but she didn't complain. I tried to focus, to see where we were headed, to block out the hellish sirens and ear-splitting howling as the thundering winds moved closer and the building around us seemed to sway.

"Where are we going?" I yelled. I didn't remember there being an exit this way or a tornado shelter in the back. What kind of house in Oklahoma didn't have a tornado shelter?! I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this before. Not that I'd had to. Ever.

"The basement!"

_Oh_right. _How could I forget?_ The storm and fear were making me crazy.

"_Bella, you never know when and how a tornado can pop up around these areas. It's better to be careful." _I could almost hear Edward's soothing, warm voice whisper those words in my ear as we were house-shopping.

Seconds later, we rounded the corner and caught sight of the basement door at the end of the first floor hallway; the building gave an ominous shudder around us. A piercing crack echoed through the empty halls and a shrill cry fell out of my lips. My eyes swept the empty hallways, and I was extremely grateful that our renters were full-time students. It was in the middle of the afternoon, so they'd be safe at the college. As we hobbled towards safety, I almost tripped on a black box, and when I turned back to see what it was, I recognized it to be a shoe—and there was only one person in this entire building who owned size fourteen shoes. I automatically moved towards Felix's door, and before I realized what I was doing, I was hitting it with everything I had.

_Could he still be in there? What if he'd left? Where's Jane? Why was he here? He was supposed to be picking her up? _

My throat ached from screaming his name, but my words were a mere whisper against the growling winds.

"Bella! Come on!" Jasper's hard hands wrapped around my biceps and lifted me off the ground. Though his intentions were clear and logical, I thrashed against him. Felix was still in there; I had to get him.

"FELIX! FELIX! COME OUT! PLEASE! _FELIX!"_ The growing pressure against my voice box made it impossible for me to say more, so I threw my hand over my mouth as tears gathered in my eyes. My friend, our first-renter, one of the best big brothers I knew...

_No, no. Focus on the now, Bella. Felix is safe. It would be _impossible_to sleep through this. _

I took a deep, cleansing breath and wiggled out of Jasper's arms before sprinting to the basement door and jerking it open. Jasper was helping Alice move faster. He was almost carrying her as she held onto him for her dear life. Tears ran down her cheeks in wet trails and her bottom lips were quivering in rhythm with the ground.

"Thanks, B," she choked out as Jazz placed her gently onto her feet.

"Go!" I rolled my eyes in a feeble attempt to lighten the situation. I hated seeing Ali cry since she so rarely did.

Jasper simply nodded at me, his brows knitted together in worry. There was a slight tremor in his frame, and I realized he was very close to falling apart. Everything he'd worked for, everyone he loved could disappear in a blink of eye, and he could see and feel it approaching, quite literally. I could relate very easily to this gut-wrenching feeling as if I was in a very same situation, except for one tiny detail – Ali was pregnant. I'd gotten to know Jasper well enough to know that he'd die for either of them. Charlie would've been proud of Ali's choice.

Alice stumbled forward and clutched the handrail as the walls trembled. I flinched as pebble-like pieces from the ceiling rained on my back. My heart lurched as the pain shot across my body. We were so close, but I wondered if we were going to make it. I raised my hands over my head as a shield and bit my lip to stop the tears from falling. I needed to be strong, focused.

With a panicked look back at me, Alice wobbled down the stairs. In any other situation, I would've found her penguin-like walking funny. I shook my head at Jasper when he motioned for me to go next. They needed to be together. Raising my eyebrow at him when he tried to resist, I caught a tiny smile on his lips as he jogged down the stairs behind Ali. I tried to calm my breathing as I felt the tornado_right behind me. _Gasping as debris slammed into me from behind, I held the door tightly as I moved against hurtling winds toward the stairs.

Once I was a few steps down, the howling winds seemed to take a breath, and I sighed in relief. I blinked through my tears and made out Jasper's shape, a few steps ahead of me. _We'd made it. We were safe._

Gasping in joy, I covered my mouth with trembling hands. I gingerly made my way to complete safety with my hands gripping the handrail.

The building rattled around us as the walls groaned in resistance, but for only a few seconds. Then the furious winds ripped through the bricks and tore apart the cement walls with their greedy hands. They snarled in victory as the house—all our hard work—our dreams crumbled into a shapeless mess. They laughed mockingly as they stole the floor from beneath me.

I didn't even have the time to gasp as agony shocked my body, and I fell into absolute blackness.

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**Edward POV**

"Hey, Doogie Howser, look alive," James Hunter, one of the other ER doctors, said in a snide voice, smacking me on the back of the shoulder. He hated my guts, and I wasn't far from returning the sentiment.

The Doogie Howser reference was something I was used to, so it wasn't that he used it that bothered me; it was that his choice of words insinuated I'd been less than busy for the past hours. Injury after injury, coming in from south of the city, had kept us covered up. And in between it all, I was worried as hell. The lights had flickered at the hospital, letting me know that the storm had gotten bad outside; thank God for the backup generators or I would've lost a patient in the middle of surgery. Carlisle, having come in to work after hearing the reports of the early arriving injured, had taken the next critical case, so I'd rested my head on the table for just a moment to pray for safety for all those out in the weather.

James mockingly called Carlisle and me "the Golden Ones" because of our spots in the ER. I got that it was unusual to have brothers together as ER doctors at the same hospital, but what made him so vicious was that both Carlisle and I were so young. I'd graduated high school at sixteen, then gone to University of Washington undergrad, graduating at nineteen, and then completed medical school at twenty-three. Carlisle had done something similar, but he'd gone to Cornell at seventeen, only to take two years after medical school to go into the Peace Corps, where he met Ms. Esme Platt – now Cullen. We'd both come home when we received Emmett's frantic call about Grammie. There had been no question; she'd always been there for us.

"_Mrs. Cullen, the boys, all three of them, are off the scales on the IQ chart. I don't think that their propensity to get in trouble has anything to do with being sociopathic, as the principal suggested," the clinical psychiatrist said, with a twinkle in her eye. "I think they're bored." _

_Grammie had made me, Carlisle, and Emmett sit in the room with them as the doctor went over the results of the testing she'd had completed on us. Gianna was pretty cool, if you asked me. At twelve, I was more than noticing the opposite sex, and she was hot. Carlisle had it worse than me; his voice had actually squeaked at one point when she was testing us. Emmett, at eight, had had no filter._

"_You're pretty!" he'd declared. "Want to be my girlfriend?"_

_Gianna had let him down gently, informing him she was happily married, and then put a booklet in front of him to complete. When Emmett bucked at it, Gianna had promised him a McDonald's Happy Meal if he completed it in time. _

"_Make it two, and you gotta deal," he'd counter-offered, causing her eyebrow to rise at his negotiations._

_So while Carlisle had made googly eyes at Gianna, Emmett and I had done the work. And it seemed that we'd done it well._

"_So, my suggestion for you is that you get them involved in other activities, or if you can… a private school?" _

"_No, I'll just make sure the district does what they should for them." _

Our Grammie had been a piece of work. Carlisle, Emmett and I had already been in the gifted classes, but Grammie had made them challenge us more. I'd gone into track, Emmett football, and Carlisle, the true "golden child", had become a mentor at the local boys club. We often heard her muttering about how we were just like our mother, and that she wasn't going to let us go down the same road.

We'd known what she was muttering about; the authorities had visited our home when Emmett was five. They'd found our mother dead in a hotel room in New York City. It would seem that Elizabeth Cullen had overdosed on cocaine. They'd never been able to find the person who'd supplied it; the room had been rented in an alias. But whoever it was must have been wealthy, because it was a swanky place. For all of our mother's brilliant capabilities, she'd died a druggie, and I was eternally grateful to my grandmother for staying on us. We'd all received full scholarships, including Emmett, for when he finally decided to get serious. I would say he was only twenty-one, but I'd already met Bella at that age and knew that she was going to be mine; not to mention, I was frantically trying to get out of med school. But Emmett was Emmett, and he'd find his way.

So the nickname Doogie Howser didn't bother me. It was by far one of the nicer names I'd been called over the years. I, like lots of "child wonders," was odd, young, too serious, analytical and a "stick in the mud." Bella had been my salvation. I'd only had eyes for her since the day she walked into the psych class. I'd been less than excited about having to take an entry level class, but it had been the only thing open during the time I'd needed it. So, I'd less than willingly signed up. That innocuous decision had changed my life. I'd dated other girls, even tried to be serious with one, but nothing ever worked.

But Bella did. I'd fallen in love almost immediately, but it hadn't been that way for Bella. She'd been unsure. Unwilling to let her go, I'd become her friend and worked hard to win her over. Then, as soon as I thought I had a chance, I'd frozen, certain she would find me lacking, and unwilling to lose her friendship if I was reading her wrong. My mixed signals had caused problems. It had turned into a whole big mess, but thankfully, in the end, she'd finally grabbed me in a fit of frustration, and the kiss between us could've set a forest on fire.

We'd been "friends" for just at a year and together as a couple ever since.

Speaking of Bella…

Pulling my phone out of my pocket again, I saw there was still no service and groaned. I needed to know she was okay!

"Edward," I turned to see one of the nurses in the doorway. "Aro wants to see you and Carlisle."

Aro was the CEO of the hospital. For us to be called to a meeting with him wasn't good. I turned to glare at James to see if he was causing problems again, but he'd moved on to harassing one of the other doctors.

"'Kay," I mumbled, pushing myself away from the table where I'd rested. I was guessing I was going to have to pull an all-nighter.

Carlisle was waiting outside Aro's office when I walked up. I could see the sadness in his eyes and knew not to ask how the surgery on the man had gone. Together, we walked into our boss' office only to be met by chaos. People were running everywhere, and it was then that we learned what had happened.

Dark eyes sharpened by stress, Aro quickly said, "Carlisle, you did some triage work while you were in the Peace Corps, right?" At my brother's nod, he gave us our orders. "Good, because your help is needed. The tornado hit downtown, and I need the two of you to go with your other brother and Jacob to the front line."

Ten minutes later, we were in an ambulance screaming out of the parking lot. I should have known it was bad when I saw Em's face. He'd waited until Carlisle and I were contained in the ambulance before he lowered the boom.

"Carlisle, Edward… it hit Crown Heights."

* * *

**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**Bella POV**

Pin-drop silence encompassed me, and I hated it. The inability to distinguish between reality and my thoughts left behind a single emotion in me.

Fear.

Thoughts ran wild in my head, and I wondered if I was even alive. Maybe there wasn't a reality. Perhaps death didn't mean Heaven or Hell, but nothingness. If the soul didn't exist, then when we died, there would be nothing left but a bunch of bones and rotting flesh.

I wanted to scream, voicing my displeasure of this timeless space, but no one would hear it. No one. Nothing. Nowhere.

Time passed.

Perhaps it was minutes. Maybe it was days. I didn't know.

But as time crawled by, the pain amplified in strength. With every brush of wind, the flames extended, reaching further. With every breath I took, it continued to consume, stretching far and wide, lapping at my skin with its fiery breath.

With its every touch, I awakened.

There wasn't much to go on. There wasn't much of a difference. I focused on my breaths. The puffs of air that flowed in and out of my mouth.

After a hundred and twenty-one counts, I gathered enough strength to open my eyes. It was like in the movies when the heroine's eyes slowly flutter open. It took a while for me to adjust to my environment, the lack of light. As my mind grew more alert, memories started filtering in.

_Scorching heat traveled down the length of my torso, taking my every molecule to the brink of explosion. It moved in a teasing manner from the valley between my breasts to my hips. I squirmed under its torturous touch, and my brain caught up quickly with the fact that that there was no pain or burn that the fire left behind. Instead, it was a delicious heat that was devouring me._

_I shifted in an attempt to control this heat until I realized I couldn't move. I was tied down, wrists and ankles bound._

"_You know, it's no use. You can't break metal." A deep, masculine voice taunted me. _

_Handcuffs._

_That was when I realized what was happening, why it was completely dark. We'd talked about this before, a while ago, when we were sharing fantasies. I'd told him that I wanted to try this; I'd described the scene to him, how it played out in my head. A warm buzz filled me, and I squirmed in anticipation. _

_Edward chuckled again – his beautiful laugh. "Look at you, so excited. I bet you dreamed about this, didn't you? You being completely and utterly at my mercy. You'll have to do everything I say if you want to be free. Are you willing to do that, Angel?" His voice was rough._

_I blinked for a moment, shocked by the change in his demeanor. Gone was the gentle, loving boyfriend I knew. Dear Lord, what had I gotten myself into? _

_I gasped when I felt a cool, firm object slap the skin on my pubic bone. The jolt of pain quickly turned to pleasure, leaving behind a strange, welcomed buzz throughout my body. My curiosity spiked, and I wished I could see. But of course, Mr. Perfectionist had to be thorough and had blindfolded me. _

"_Answer me, Angel. You don't want to me to actually hurt you, do you? Speak," he sneered. _

"_No... Master. Please." I was unable to keep the huskiness out of my tone, but I doubt he minded. _

"_You're polite. I like that, Angel. Trust me when I say it'll go in your favor as the night proceeds." His words were a silky whisper like water rolling over smooth rocks. I bit my lip to withhold a moan. _

"_You know, Angel, I must admit, you look absolutely stunning. But since you can't witness your own beauty tonight, I shall describe to you what I see. Did you know that you are resting on a navy blue cot? Can you feel the cool, smooth leather against your pale skin? You certainly look heavenly today, Angel. Your coffee-color hair is twisted like tree roots surrounding your heart-shaped face. And that blush…" _

_A warm breeze tickled my nose, and I realized that he was closer now. "Your lips are so red, love, like raspberries," he whispered. My heart pounded. He was so close; I needed him closer. I felt his breath on my lips. _

Kiss me.

_I tilted my head upward to catch his lips, but he slipped away with a deep chuckle. The cool, firm object made a reappearance, this time right in between my breasts. Edward dragged it down to my hipbone. It left behind a strange feeling in me; I was filled with a wicked want and anticipation, something I've never felt before. _

"_Do you want to know what I'm holding in my hand, love?" His voice was husky, deeper. I bet he was hard. I grew slicker at the thought of grabbing his thick, hard cock in my hands and running my tongue along its underside. But then I remembered that he asked a question and nodded in reply. _

"_A purple riding crop. Purple's your favorite, isn't it, Angel? Oh, I wish you could see how beautiful the crop looks against your milky-white skin. It's as if you were born to be in this position." He moved the flat end of the riding crop upward, skimming it right above my skin, until it was directly above my right breast. A light tap was all it took for my nipple to harden under its smooth surface. That small action sent thousands of pleasure signals to my brain, overloading it until I became an incoherent mess. _

_He tortured me in that manner for a few minutes, or perhaps it was longer. I wasn't sure, too lost in the bliss. I could almost imagine him, his cock getting harder with every reaction I had. Before too long, I knew that I was squirming. I _needed_him to touch me. I wanted to feel his warm hand on my skin, taking me to the brink and back. _

_He gave me what I wanted, I realized, as I felt his wet, hot lips clamp over my left breast. I gasped as he sucked on my nipple and I pulled against my binds, needing to touch him in return. _

"_Edward." His name was punctuated with a long moan as he began to play my other nipple with his fingers. My breath fell out in short puffs. _

"_You taste so good, Angel," he groaned against my breast, licking and sucking every part of it. "Like fresh strawberries."_

_A deep shudder went through me, and my heartbeat hitched when I felt his hand move further down. _

"_Edward...Edward, please!" He couldn't tease me about this, not now. I needed him too much. He slipped a finger into me. "Edward!" _

_My eyes shot open, and I flinched against the bright sunlight filtering through our room. A wave of pleasure rocked through me, and I gasped. _

"_What were you dreaming about, beautiful?" a low, throaty voice commanded, and I snapped my head down to see Edward's messy mop of various reds in between my legs. I shivered as he added another finger, pumping them in and out. _

"_You... Us." I gasped, having absolutely no control over my breathing. What a way to wake up! _

"_And what exactly were we doing? It sounded great." He winked at me, crooked grin in place, and I wondered what I did to deserve this man. _

"_I love you," I whispered. _

_His grin widened as he curled his fingers inside me, hitting _that_spot, drawing the most sensual emotions within me. My fingers grasped the bed sheets into a tight fist as I moaned like a porn star, my head burying in the pillows, my back arched. _

"_So good. So fucking good." _More, I needed more. _With the accuracy of a telepath, Edward bent down to suck my clit into his bright pink lips before licking the entire length of my sex. _

_Oh God... _

_Jesus…fucking…Christ. _

_He sucked, licked and bit my clit until I felt the beginnings of my climax descend upon me. I focused on the feelings his fingers enticed within me as the waves of climax toppled over me, drowning me in ecstasy. I chanted his name as he continued his ministrations. He'd gotten so good. _

_I slipped my fingers into his silky locks to make sure he didn't go anywhere as I rocked against his soft lips and taut jaw, riding out my climax. Once he seemed sure that I was spent, he slowly rose, dropping light kisses on my skin until he reached my lips. _

_A wide grin stretched on his lips to match his twinkling eyes. "Good morning, beautiful." _

"_I missed you," I whispered, slipping my fingers around him and pulling him closer. He'd been so busy at the hospital, trying to please everyone. Even with the bright smile and happy demeanor, I could still see the bags under his eyes, even after a night's sleep. I traced his fatigued face, wishing that he would've sent me a text when he left the hospital; I would've gotten up and cooked something fresh for him. _

_He snorted lightly, as if he was reading my mind, and leaned down to plant a firm yet soft kiss on my lips before I could voice my thoughts. Five years and I was still as in love with him as in the beginning. I tightened my hold around his neck because I never wanted to let him go. Pressing my lips against his, I was suddenly desperate to show him my love. He pulled my bottom lip into his mouth, angling his head to the left to get closer. His breath was burning hot against me. I traced his upper lip with my tongue and released my clutch on his hair to cup his face. _

Beep! Beep! Beep!

_The incessant sound of my alarm pierced through the air, causing us to jump apart. We glanced at the clock and then each other before bursting out laughing. He rolled onto his back, chortling as my breath came out in choking gasps. I swear that alarm had THE WORST timing ever. Let's just say that that wasn't the first (or I was certain, the last) time it had cock-blocked us, but it meant well, so we kept it. Not to mention, we'd be out of jobs and have no education without that damn thing. _

_I sighed. "I suppose that's my cue." _

"_Yeah, and as much as I liked tasting you…" He yawned largely, already closing his eyes for a few more minutes of sleep._

_Hmmm. There was always tonight, I promised myself. _

_I kissed Edward one last time—on his forehead—before hauling my ass out of bed and into the bathroom. I put on my sports bra, an old ratty t-shirt and shorts, splashed my face with water and brushed my teeth. Edward was fast asleep again by the time I came out, so I quietly tiptoed my way across the room. He had to go in around lunch, so I knew he'd be catching as much sleep as possible before he got ready—he'd come in late the night before._

_After that, everything was routine. I did my normal mile jog around town before returning home. I took a quick shower, grinned at a still-sleeping Edward, and stuffed my bag with all the materials I needed for today's class. It was an hour-long lecture about the history of art with in-depth analysis, again. I picked the class to be in the morning, so that I could have the evening to myself. _

_I was the third one to arrive to the class, and I picked a seat in the far back. My hearing was completely fine and Professor Gongora absolutely loved me. I kept myself awake during the class by texting Angela, who was in Intro to Theater Arts—God knows why—and playing Temple Run on my iPhone. With immense concentration that should have been focused on the class, I beat my high score by seven points. I tuned back into Professor Gongora's droning voice at the end of the class to catch the homework assignment, and I smiled at her on the way out. _

_I was taking a little detour to drop off my paper to Professor Marcus when Edward called, frantic, demanding that I go home. Apparently, there was a tornado warning going around. I huffed a little at his protectiveness before distracting him enough for me to pick my "groceries" at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory and return the recipe book at Stephano's. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. The weather was pretty nasty outside after a while. _

I remembered getting home safely and wanting to work on my third paper of the week. But I never got to it. I remembered the tornado, the winds, the panic, the roar. I remembered the shoes and Felix and Jasper. Alice was with him, us. Alice, my sister—my eight-and-a-half-month-pregnant sister was with us when the tornado hit, destroying our home.

Holy fucking shit!

I shot up straight and shuddered when pain exploded down my back. A choked cry left my clenched teeth while tears gathered in my eyes. I took a deep breath, trying not to scream, trying to see in the dark. Alice! I needed to find her and Jasper.

_Dear God, please let them be okay. _

I stood up gingerly, careful not to jolt my back too hard. Blinking constantly to clear my eyes of tears, I limped through the pile of broken cement, feeling with my hands. There was no light; I figured the debris must be blocking the sunlight, and I doubted the light bulb that was connected to the ceiling worked. What I wouldn't have given for a flashlight then.

I stumbled around, trying to get adjusted to the lack of light and to reach a wall for support. Though I wasn't really sure how, after a while I was able to make out at least large shapes in the dark. Most were jagged edges. I couldn't see any human forms on the ground. I even got down on my stomach to get a better view. Of course, I almost bit off my bottom lip trying to hold in a scream from the pain, but Alice came first.

A soft noise to my left distracted me from my search, and I scrambled back in fright. "Hello? Jasper? Alice?" I didn't think there was anyone else there with us. "Jasper?"

I slowly moved closer toward the initial noise, wondering if there'd be more. I tried to use my hands to guide me through the darkness, but I ended up tripping anyway. While I sat there waiting for the bursting flames to diminish, I reached out, searching for the rock that tripped me. I only felt sand, gravel, and chunks of what I assumed to be cement, until I accidentally brushed over a softer item. I pressed against it harder, feeling out its texture and shape. After a minute of examination, I concluded that _that thing_ was a hand.

I inhaled deeply. _Now to see if the hand is attached to something. _

I scooted forward until the hand was comfortably within reach before I began to scrape the gravel of it. Many of the pieces were easily movable though they varied extremely in size. I had shoved most of the pieces to the ground, when I felt something shift near me. Touching the palm of the hand, I followed it as it expanded into an entire person. It took me a little time to realize that the person was on his/her stomach, but once I did, I attempted to get them on their back. As I was pulling the person's arm, I became aware of the fact that it wasn't only one person. There were two people, I concluded, and from what I could see and sense, one was covering the other. This had to Jasper and Alice.

A sudden panic settled in me, and I jerked their hands around while screaming their names.

_They were okay. They had to be okay. Please, God, let them be okay. Let them wake up. _

A small grunt sent a wave of relief over me, and I began slapping their faces lightly.

"Alice! Jasper! Wake up! Where are you hurt?" I continued to panic until I heard a rough whisper, begging me to stop. I squinted through the darkness, trying to find _something_ that'd help, but it was futile. I couldn't see a thing.

"Be-ll?" The word was hoarse and choked.

_It's okay. He's okay. _

I closed my eyes to control the tears.

"Jazzy!" I reached out to touch him. I needed to know he was okay.

"Bella, you...okay?" he rasped, his voice breathless.

"Yes! Yes! Alice?"

He cleared his throat. "She's right here. She's... fine. I made sure... she was."

"And you, you're alright?"

He scoffed and then coughed vehemently. "As fine as I can be, I suppose. What happened back there?"

"A tornado," I replied, flatly.

"No shit." I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "But the stairs were supposed to hold up."

I shrugged before remembering that I had landed on a bunch of sharp rocks, and that they'd left behind their mark.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Jasper had heard the hiss I couldn't hold back.

"Nothing, nothing, I just... it's a few scratches."

"There should be a first-aid kit in the box." I heard him shifting closer.

"The box?"

The shuffling stopped. "The box with the emergency supplies. The one that Edward spent a week putting together, remember that?"

_Oh riiight. _"I do now." _How could I have forgotten? _

"Do you know where it is?"

"He said it'd be in a corner. The farthest one from the stairs."

Jasper sighed. "Alrighty then." I heard him moving again, this time away from me. Suddenly, he groaned in pain.

"What! What happened?" I scurried toward him.

"Nothing... nothing. Just a couple of scratches," he gasped out.

"You're not bleeding too much, are you?"

"No, I don't think so. You?"

"I think I'm fine."

"Okay, okay, good. Now to find the emergency kit." He crawled around for a bit, ordering me to stay put when I tried to help. From the sound of it, he was moving alongside of a wall, and he was going to follow it until he found the box. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it. Edward spent days on it, making sure _everything_ that anyone could ever need in case of an emergency was in there. I was very surprised that it even fit in one box.

I stretched to find Ali's hand in the dark and scooted closer to her. I felt around, trying to find her face, and when I did, I placed my finger under her nose. A tidal wave of relief washed over me when I felt a hot breath against my clammy finger.

_She's okay, alive. We're all going to be okay. _

I chanted the mantra in my mind to keep myself calm. I knew that was what Alice would have wanted me to do. Holding her hand like she'd once held mine, I brushed Ali's hair out of her face while remembering that time we got lost in the woods.

"_Ali, where are we?" I asked for the gazillionth time and in my defense, I would've totally stopped if Ali would've just told me. "Do you even _know_?" _

_Ali huffed, rolling her pretty brown eyes. We both had the same brown eyes, but somehow they were prettier on her. "I know where we're going, munchie. Just wait, you'll see Daddy in a sec." _

_But that second turned into hours and before we knew it, it was dark, and we were jumpy. I was holding Ali's hand as we passed the same tree—again. _

"_Ali, that's the fifteenth time we passed that tree." I pointed to the pine tree with the broken branch that was grazing the forest floor. "I think we're lost," I whimpered. _

_Ali sighed before crouching down in front of me. She smiled as she wiped away my tears. "Yes, we're lost. But we have to keep going, 'kay? Daddy's out there, looking for us."_

"_But what if he isn't? What if he gave up and went home to sleep?" I knew he'd never do that, but I had to know for sure. _

_Ali simply laughed and pulled me in for a tight hug. "We're gonna be okay. I promise. Until then, I want you to be calm and brave. Okay?" she said, in such an adult voice that I knew I had to obey, so I nodded and until Daddy found us, I didn't cry or bug Ali about where we were. _

A loud bang brought me out of my reverie, and I flinched as I heard Jasper curse. I was about to ask him if he was alright when he yelled, "Found it!"

I heard him start to dig through the box. A few seconds passed and then there was a golden circle with a halo around it against the wall.

I cheered as Jazz rolled a flashlight toward me.

My first thought was to flash the light over Ali, and once I saw that she wasn't bleeding badly, just some cuts and abrasions here and there, and that she just seemed to be sleeping, I drew a deep breath of relief.

"Jazz, she seems fine."

I heard his breath exhale. Needing to focus on something, I asked, "What else is in there?"

He snickered. "You know, just enough supplies to last us for a year." He'd been there when Edward went just-in-case crazy.

"Got any food?" I said just as my stomach cramped. Suddenly, I wondered just how long we'd been passed out. Since we couldn't really see outside, there was no real way to figure out what time it was. It _was_ a bit cooler than I remembered, so I guessed it was probably somewhere near ten o'clock.

"Yep." He chucked a tiny package at me, and I flashed the light at it to see that it was a packet of fruit snacks. I ripped it open and tossed a couple in my mouth, taking the time to really look around.

The basement looked like a bomb had exploded in it, and I shuddered to see the sharp pieces of metal sticking out here and there. I'd been dumb to be moving around without the light… but really, what other choice had there been? Considering there had been no light coming from above, I had to assume we were well and truly stuck.

The snacks were good, but I was still hungry. "Do you have anything healthier?" I wasn't a complete health nut, but some nutrients were probably a good idea after what'd just happened.

"I have crackers and dried fruit. And water."

"Gimme the fruit and water, please." Once I stuffed them into my mouth and washed it all down with water, I decided to look for my phone. Though I might not get reception down here, I could at least see the time. With my new best friend, Bob the flashlight, I set out on the mission to find it.

However, the mission ended when I saw that my phone wasn't really a phone anymore. I bent down to pick up the scraps of metal, wondering how the fuck these could possibly turn into a rectangular piece of technology. I sighed.

_Well. I suppose that's that. _

Another look back to Ali, and I trudged back to where Jasper was still looking through the bin. All around him was... stuff. I could spot everything from Swiss Army knives to water bottles to first-aid kits to a deck of cards. I grabbed the deck of cards because it felt like we'd be here forever and this could at least be a bit fun. A distraction was certainly something we needed.

* * *

**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

**Edward POV**

"Carlisle, Edward… it hit Crown Heights."

I saw red as Carlisle choked beside me. All I could think of was Bella, Esme, Jasper and Alice. Alice had been off today, so I was certain she was holed up at the house, having Jasper rub her feet. "Emmett, you better as hell be going to tell me that we are on the way there right now!" I growled at him.

"Yeah, for sure. Communication hasn't been clear, but they're setting up a triage station just on this side of Main Street. They're bringing out the victims and transporting to all the local emergency rooms, but there was a call put out to all the hospitals to send reinforcements. They're hoping to treat the minor injuries at the scene, only transporting the critical to the emergency rooms."

All I heard was "Blah…blah…blah."

We took a corner, and I swore that Jacob did it on two wheels. Although Jake was serious about his job as a paramedic, his haste was fueled by more. He and my Bella had become good friends. Nessie, his wife, was a vegetarian, so Jake came to Bella for his clandestine "carnivore" fixes. Esme had designed Nessie and Jacob's new house, giving the plans over to Sam to build. We'd become an odd family, but one that worked for us all. We could hear the sirens in the distance. Our neighborhood wasn't far from the hospital, less than fifteen miles away. Carlisle checked his phone again, but he had no better luck.

"Oh my God!" Jacob said from the driver's seat just a minute later, and both Carlisle and I dove into the opening where we could see.

My chest wheezed. Plumes of black smoke rose at irregular places in the distance. At one point, there seemed to be a pathway through the houses and buildings, but trees lay everywhere and I cringed to see that the parking lot of the post office had already been turned into a temporary morgue. In several areas, sheet were draped across bodies, the coroner already picking his way through the mounds as, to the side, bloodied and crying family members huddled together for support. Frank had moved his new cars to the sides of his lot, and a staging area had been set up for the injured. It already spilled over onto the small grassy area separating his place from the bank. Windows had been shattered and there was debris everywhere.

"Bros, go help, and I'll see if I can find any of my buddies to check on the houses," Emmett said quickly as we came to a halt. Emmett knew most of the police officers in our precinct. If anyone could get past the line, he could.

The wounded were arriving in droves, and before Carlisle and I could even think, we were out the back door running toward the area, the ready-to-go bags slung across our backs.

"Names?" the man in charge asked as we ran in under the tent that formed the makeshift aid station.

"Carlisle and Edward Cullen," Carlisle answered quickly. "We're with Baptist Medical."

He started to describe the scene and area, and Carlisle cut him off. "We were both raised here, our houses are in that…" He shrugged toward the disaster zone.

"Hold up," the guy said quickly, his eyes sharp. "You don't have to be here…"

"Look, unless you're going to let us dig, then at least let us do this. We'll go crazy otherwise," I barked out, but then felt bad about how sharp my tone was. Being able to help out was going to be the only thing that kept me sane. And that only by a string. I was already tugging at my hair in frustration.

He scrutinized Carlisle and me with narrowed eyes, but then Dr. Paschal jogged by from St. Anthony's and slapped Carlisle on the shoulder. "Best emergency room surgeon around," he muttered to Trey, the guy in charge, and that seemed to clear up any concerns.

Trey needed us, and we needed him. He held the ticket to our staying close.

"Okay," he huffed. "But if it gets to be too much, you are going to step away."

Carlisle and I both nodded in agreement.

We tried not to be too obvious about scanning the crowd as we set up our stations, and I tried to control the fear that threatened to burst out of my chest. I didn't see Bella, Alice, Esme or Jasper. The band tightened across my chest, and then a memory hit.

"_Edward?" Bella's voice came softly at my side. Turning, I saw the young girl who'd captured my senses. "You okay?" she said quietly, laying her hand on my arm. We were outside the Chem building, and she'd pushed her way through the crowd that had yet to disperse._

"_Yeah," I shrugged, attempting to turn her attention somewhere else._

"_Wait! You're bleeding," she swore out, seeing the blood on my shirt. _

_That I didn't talk for a moment wasn't because I was attempting to deny it, but because the heat of her hand against my chest burned me. _

"_Where are you hurt?" she asked, quickly running her distracting palm across my skin, looking for an injury._

_Finally, I knew I had to stop what she was doing, or I wouldn't be responsible for my actions. And there were still too many eyes around us. "I'm not."_

"_Huh?" She turned her expressive brown eyes up to look at me._

"_It's the other guy's."_

"_Whose?"_

_The words slipped out before I could stop them. "Mike Newton's." As I sat wishing I could take the words back, several emotions warred across her face. Then a grin won out._

"_Edward Cullen, did you just protect my honor?"_

_Blushing, I looked down, not wanting to answer. Mike had been harassing Bella since a lab they'd had together, and I'd caught her crying one too many times. I might have been smart, but I was still a teenager;one secretly—well, not so secretly now—in love. Realizing that I'd just shown my cards in a way that I shouldn't have, the fear of losing my "best friend" threatened to overwhelm me, and I actually felt a tight band grab my chest and start squeezing. It felt like I might actually faint. _

"_Edward…breathe!" Bella said commandingly at my wheezing sound, and then burst out in a smile when my eyes met hers. She'd busted me. _

It was the first time she'd held my hand, so I'd always felt it was worth it. But, as Carlisle and I began looking at the worst of the worst, already covering some faces forever, caring for others and setting broken bones, butterflying lacerations, identifying the individuals for the waiting EMS personnel to take, and turning others over to the coroner, I kept remembering her soft order. _"__Edward…breathe!"_

"_Okay baby, as long as you are coming back to me," _I thought, looking over to the police line. "_Emmett…where are you?"_

The only thing keeping me from insanity was the endless stream of injured. It was easy to focus on the needs in front of me, putting my emotions to a far corner as I patched up the wounds inflicted by the storm.

Not long afterward, we heard Esme scream Carlisle's name, and from across the plaza, she came running. I felt both relief and jealousy as he captured her into his arms and then spun her around. I did turn away when they kissed feverishly and then wished I hadn't—from across the way, Emmett was stepping out of the disaster area and in his arms a tiny dark-haired female hung lifelessly. Blood clumped the woman's hair, staining it a sickly color. Even across the way, I could see the agony in his eyes.

_NO! _There were no colors in the woman's hair. It couldn't be her…

_The blood would have covered it up, _a voice tried to rationalize. The world and horror around me faded away.

"_Babe, close your eyes," Bella said from the bathroom, and I chuckled at her mischievous tone. "Leave your glasses on!" she added, posthaste._

_She had such funny quirks. I personally didn't find anything about my plain black reading glasses sexy, but she did. "Sure." I chuckled, doing what she told me to as I closed the medical journal I'd been reading. _

_Feeling her crawl onto the bed, I groaned slightly as she straddled my legs just above my knees. Even through the thin silk pajama pants she'd bought me, I could feel her heat. Her chuckle at my immediate reaction was deep and husky. The woman was my own personal brand of Viagra._

"_Down boy," she chuckled, then made that an impossibility by running one of her fingertips from the waistband of my pants, up my chest and across one of my nipples. _

_The drag of her skin across mine caused the heat to pool deep within—it was like liquid fire pouring over me, making my dick even harder. I needed friction, bad._

"_Fuck, Bella." I grabbed her thighs and then hissed, feeling silk hose and garters. I didn't have to see her to know she was grinning ear to ear. _

"_I have a little surprise for you," she teased. _

_Duh… _

_Bella in garter belts, silk hose, and high heels only was one of my hottest fantasies. And, she knew it. My hands clenched slightly on her legs. She was so tiny that I could easily wrap my hands around them. Teasing me further, she ground down on my legs, letting me feel the satin covering her and the moisture saturating it. Playing with the tie at my waist as if she was going to release me from the confines of the now tight silk, she giggled as I bucked up against her, swearing out several descriptions of what I would like to do to her._

"_Do you need something?" she teased, even as I groaned._

_Yeah, I needed to be inside her, her ankles wrapped around my neck so I could fuck her hard. But I suspected it would be awhile before I was privileged enough to sink in her scalding wetness. She was in a playful mood._

_However, two could play at this game. Sliding my hands across her skin, I quickly brushed them across her flat stomach to palm her breasts, making sure that my thumbs ran across her taut nipples. She cried out, shuddering deliciously. Bella's breasts were extremely sensitive, and I'd labored hard—not really, it had been this man's dream come true—to learn the way to make her cum just by tasting them. It'd driven her and me crazy in all the right ways._

"_Aagh…" she mumbled, putting her hands to mine to push my palms firmer, tighter against her. _

_She moved against me hypnotically, her hips moving determinedly. I met her stroke for stroke, wishing I could be inside her while she did this. I fucking loved it when Bella was on top. I could watch her breasts bounce with each movement, her face as she worked to make us both cum. I could touch her clit and watch her face clench, and feel her thighs tighten around me. I broke out in a sweat—even without being able to see her, I was so close._

_Then, catching on to my strategy, she batted at my hands to let go while she scolded me. "Behave...well, at least for a few more moments."_

_Chuckling at what I realized was my crestfallen face, she then moved my hands back to where her knees were against the mattress. Minx! I felt the bed shift as she rose to her knees. "Okay, you can open your eyes."_

_When I did, the breath wheezed out of my chest. Bella was wearing electric blue, silk boy shorts and a matching push up bra. Her tits looked amazing and the blue against her skin drove me crazy, but what really stunned me was her hair. She'd braided it in some fancy way across the crown, and then through the long lengths that hung across her shoulders and back, she'd put highlights in blue, purple and green. Her eye shadow matched, and it was a stunning sight. She looked otherworldly beautiful._

_I moved quickly, sitting up to place my lips against one of my favorite spots, the pale skin just over her heart that rises above the silk cup of her bra. "Fuck, Bella. That outfit…hmmm…" Nudging the silk to the side, I took her nipple between my teeth, tugging, and I was rewarded with her fingers pulling through my hair. The silk of her hair teased my thighs as she threw her head back, pushing her chest even further out to me in offering._

"_You like?" she whispered hoarsely, already making those mewling noises that scalded me and usually made me lose control._

"_Hell, yeah," I grunted, moving to give her other breast love, wiggling my fingers underneath the silk of her garters to brush my thumbs against the spot where the silk of the hose met the silk of her skin. It was such a simple thing, but erotic nonetheless._

"_Unhh…Edward…hold on…" she begged, rocking against me again so that her clit hit my cock over and over._

_The glide of her heat and wetness against the silk covering me was about to break my control. And the smell of her… I shuddered. I should've felt embarrassed by the needy sound coming out of me, but I wasn't. "You're the one who came in here looking like this, and you expect me not to fuck you hard?" I growled. Seriously, she knew her artistic flair drove me insane. She was always surprising me with different looks, driving me to the brink of insanity with lust at each "new" Bella. "Little girl, you're pushing it. You are ridiculously close to being tied down to this bed." I felt her swallow hard at my words. _

"_I wanted to surprise you, to tease you…" she stuttered out as I swirled one taut bud with my tongue, biting gently. _

"_Hmm… how about I let you do that to me after I've made you cum several times. You know how it fucking makes me crazy to watch you."_

_She gasped, leaning up to grab my face so that we could look at each other. Passion had caused her brown eyes to darken to almost black and a high blush to rise across her cheeks. Her lips were swollen from her teeth, where she'd bitten them while I nuzzled her. I fully expected for them to only get worse considering the things I wanted to do to them, have them do to me. Her skin was like the finest marble, pure and unmarred. But the rose color of her tightened nipples most allured me, and I returned to them, suckling one while I rolled the other between my fingers. The sex noises she made from my actions fueled the frenzy that had somewhat cooled._

_I felt when I had her, when she slumped against me, panting in need._

"_Edward… now!" she growled out, tugging my hair in demand as she wrapped her legs around my hips pulling us snug against each other. _

_The heat of her blazed against me, burning away the last of my restraint. _

_I was uncertain just how we managed to dispose of her boy shorts and my pants, but as the final layers of clothing fell away, what followed was a mind-numbing joining of flesh, teeth, tongues, hands and need as she screamed my name over and over again. I pulled out every stop to make sure she remembered it was me that made her feel that way. It was hard to concentrate because the feel of her against me, surrounding me, squeezing me tightly as she came time and time again. The taste of her, her lips, her sex… the sight of her eyes going blank with passion, closing as I forced her over and over, to say my name to beg me before I let her reach release. The sound of her cursing, pleading, murmuring my name in the neediest of ways. The sight of her, as I'd promised, tied to our bed. Her lips surrounding me, her exquisite body satiated and lax before I prowled over her again. _

_All of it made me reckless. _

_I wasn't at my finest or my most seductive because I was being seduced as well, and it was an enticing position to be in. But when we finally collapsed hours later, I smiled when her arm went around me, her head resting on my arm. With the final bit of energy I had left, I tugged at a brightly colored strip of hair, asking silently the occasion. What she said shocked the hell out of me. _

"_Well, the idea kinda came from one of my kiddos at the hospital. She'd used Kool-Aid to dye her hair. She said I would be pretty with colors, kinda like a fairie, and it got me to thinking of your fetish with Avatar and the blue lady. I know how you were about that girl in it..." _

_Oh God, she was teasing me about being an ultimate geek—and I be damned if her words didn't get me hard again. There was nothing better for a man than a woman who understood how to get the inner geek on. She gasped when she felt my reaction, but continued talking._

"_Green because it's the color of your eyes, blue because me wearing the color gets you excited, " she smiled broadly when her eyes met mine, "and purple, because it's my second favorite color—but only after green."_

_I gently placed my fingers under her chin, to turn her face back up to me._

"_How did I ever get lucky enough to make you fall in love with me?" I asked._

_With the most sincere look on her face, she looked down at my fingers, fingers that she liked buried deep within her, and dead panned, "You're handy."_

_Handy indeed. I showed her how handy I was burying my lips between her legs and making her scream again before flipping her over and taking her from behind. When I finally buried myself so deep in her that I didn't know where I ended and she began, I grabbed those strands of colored hair and wrapped them around my wrists to tug before I came so hard into her that I saw stars. Through the haze of my orgasm, I felt her clench around me one last time and I fell onto her as she softly chanted my name._

I was frozen at the image of Emmett approaching us, but Carlisle moved quickly.

"Edward, it's not Bella," he said softly after moving the woman's hair away from her face.

But there was still agony in his voice. Someone had lost a daughter, possibly a wife or girlfriend, a sister or a cousin. It wasn't right that I felt a small kernel of happiness, and I felt horrible, even though I'd studied it, knew it for what it was—survivor guilt.

"I have to go," I said harshly and started to move forward, but Jake caught me by the shoulders. He'd been behind Emmett.

"Edward, you can't."

"Why?"

"Because it isn't safe." The look in his eyes gutted me. I knew I was about to hear something really bad. "Edward, the building, your house… I made my way there with Riley." Riley was a cop and had gone to school with us; I could see him sneaking Jacob in to the area. "It's demolished."

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

**Bella POV**

Time passed on as it always did, surely and steadily. We were the ones who weren't aware of it as we played Go Fish like it was war. Admittedly, there was probably some way we could've been more productive with our time, but we chose to be immature and try and forget the world and our worries as we indulged in game after game. Jasper had looked first to see if there was any way out, but as I'd suspected, it was hopeless.

Of course, we _were_ grown-ups, so we'd taken care of our wounds before we even started cards. I was pretty sure that they were about twelve band-aids on my back and arms, as well as some gauze covering larger scrapes, while I'd stamped about nine on Jasper, and we'd wrapped his leg to staunch a nasty gash. We'd even taken care of Ali's wounds. We'd done everything to check her out—monitored her breathing and checked her pulse. It wasn't like we hadn't learned something from being involved with doctors. For now, all we could do was wait and play cards under the flashlight we'd rigged to give us a small space of light.

But Jasper, unable to be separated from her, held Alice's hand while we played, his thumb rubbing softly over her pale skin.

"Got any sevens?"

Jasper shook his head before smirking. "Go fish."

I stuck my tongue at him and went 'fishing'. No luck.

"Do you have any fours?"

I smirked at him. "Go fish."

Like that, the hour—perhaps two—passed. We got bored of Go Fish and decided to take a snack break before starting a game of War. That was... fun. We tried to wake Ali again a few times, but she wouldn't budge. I was placating myself with the fact that she was breathing and had a normal pulse.

"'Kay, I'm gonna go see if there's something else in there," I whispered. We'd been whispering the whole time because the debris on top of us blocked any sounds, so it was suffocatingly silent in here. It felt a bit weird to talk in a normal voice.

I plopped down in front of the gigantic bin; I think Edward got it on sale for five bucks somewhere. I remembered him being excited about it and started pulling out everything that Jasper had dumped back in. Somewhere in the motion of searching, I'd starting smiling, thinking about the effort Edward had put into this, simply enjoying the feeling that he cared so much. I still remembered the day that he promised me forever.

_I slipped my fingers into his hair, but didn't pull him closer. I let him kiss me at his own pace—slowly, tenderly. Once in a while, he'd deviate down to kiss my neck or the skin at my collarbone, but no matter where his lips touched, my skin just about burst into flames in reaction. My pulse quickened, and I was constantly swallowing moans. _

He feels so good. Just right.

_The TV ran in the background; we were halfway through an episode of 'Supernatural'. The fact was I couldn't exactly think straight at the moment, I was too busy sucking Edward's face off and he mine. Though we'd only been dating about two months now, I knew where this night was headed, and I was completely okay with it. It would be simply painful to avoid 'us' any longer._

_I couldn't take it anymore; I'd finally realized that Edward was much more than a friend, and now I needed him to see me as more too. He was... perfection. At least in my eyes. He was going through this exercise-and-be-healthy phase, and it was showing. I ran my nails across his six-pack, and he moaned into my mouth. And of course, as it would to any teenager, the sound traveled through my veins and neurons right to my pussy. I shoved back against the couch and straddled him. _

Oh, sweet Lord! He's...so fucking hard.

_I was legitimately surprised that it managed to stay in his pants. Involuntarily, I brushed my shorts-covered pussy over his boxer-covered cock and oh my...!_

_My eyes fluttered close as a wave of very pleasurable sensations rolled over my body. _

"_Bella," he gasped. _

"_What?" I whispered. Somehow between peppering soft kisses on my face he'd slid his hands over my ass. That sneaky man. _

"_You're sin. Pure sin."_

_I chuckled into his mouth. 'Payback's a bitch,' I thought, remembering all the times that he'd seduced me only to stop me when _I _started to go "overboard". He squeezed my ass in reply and I jerked against him. Goddamn, it should be fucking illegal for someone to feel this then again, Embry, my ex, wasn't anywhere near sexy when we did the deed in the back of his car after prom. Cliché, I know. I was quite terrified because I knew Charlie was in charge of the rounds that night. _

_Yes. Charlie, my father, who was also the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington, was patrolling the roads when I lost my virginity in a car after prom. _

Ugh, I should not be thinking about my father in a situation like this.

_I focused my attention back to my current boyfriend, Edward Cullen, the Sex God of the University of Washington's med school. Yeah, I didn't know why he picked me either, but he wasn't the fuck 'em and leave 'em type. He was sweet, sensitive, caring, sexy and an absolute nerd. His borderline obsession with Avatar and superhero comics proved it. Now, if only I could convince him to wear glasses... _

_But that might be too much for all the med-sluts that hung on his every word. You'd think future doctors would be more professional._

"_Angel, you're thinking too much." His smooth voice brought me out of my mind with 'mphm?' and he grinned at me. So beautiful. Perfect. His face was completely symmetrical except for his slightly crooked nose. _

_Suddenly, it felt as if everything in and around me had settled; everything was calm as it was supposed to be, and I knew my words before I said them, for once. I leaned in so that our noses were almost touching and looked his into his gleaming forest green eyes. _

"_I love you." _

_And I had for a long time. I loved his smile, his face, his body. I loved his quirks and how he talked in his sleep. I loved that, once in a while, his "OCD" would take over, and he would clean the room, twice. I loved that he got jealous over me, enough to punch the shit out of Mike Newton. I loved that he was manly enough to apologize to the idiot after. I loved how his eyes lit up as I confessed the words to him, and I loved how he pulled me in for a kiss before he realized what he was doing. _

"_I love you too. So much," he whispered in my ear. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in the crook of his neck. "Forever, okay?" _

_I stiffened at the promise. How could he know? I'd been let down too many times to believe in a promise. He nudged me to face him. When I did, I saw that he was being completely serious. His eyes were fixed on mine, his lips in a straight line. He wasn't fidgeting or nervous. Oh, that was just wonderful. He continued like he didn't see the doubt and hesitation in my face. "I'll protect you forever. Love you forever. I know it might seem like an empty promise right now, trust me, but I see my life with you in it." _

_I didn't know what to do. On one hand, I could see that he was sincere, but on the other, I wasn't sure if I could give him my heart based on words. In my moment of hesitation, a small voice tugged me aside and reminded me that I loved him, too. So, I did what any good girlfriend would do. I kissed him, telling myself that I'd worry about the future when it came. _

Obviously, it turned out that he was right, considering I packed up and moved down to Oklahoma to be with him. I was also glad that I did kiss him, because that night... let's just say that I remembered that night _very_ clearly. But true to his word, Edward did protect me. Even when I wasn't with him, I realized as I took things out of the bin that I would've never imagined I'd need, but that were very practical for the situation at hand. I gasped in surprise when I found a small CD player and a few albums ranging from Debussy to Maroon 5. I could also see that he kept them updated as I found their latest album 'Overexposed'. I slid the CD in and increased the volume. _Payphone _blasted out through the room, and Jasper groaned. I snickered. He hated Maroon 5, to put it lightly, but Alice loved them, so maybe she'd wake up to Adam Levine's sexy, high-pitched voice.

I was right, I realized, as we heard Ali shift and moan for the first time in hours. I turned down the volume and rushed to her side. Jasper was already there, holding up her head. He looked at me.

"Get me a pillow?" Yes, Edward kept pillows in the box. It was a gigantic box, and they were those small travel ones. I was back within seconds and smiled in relief when I saw Ali talking to Jasper. She turned to me when I sat down beside her.

"How you doin', sis?" She was breathing heavily, but smiled at me gratefully as I placed the pillow behind her head.

"Good, I think. I'm just a bit uncomfortable." I watched as she squirmed and winced. I trusted her analysis considering she was a doctor. Imagine my and Edward's surprise when we'd figured out that the "annoying pixie in class" he'd kept referring to had actually been my sister. That had been early on in our "friendship" and had provided many laughs.

"You landed on your back. It'll be sore for a while," Jasper consoled her. The frown he had from before was back, and he was rocking back and forth slightly.

"I'll be okay." Alice grabbed his forearm and pulled it close. I wasn't the only one who'd noticed his nervousness. She placed her other hand over her bulging stomach. "We'll be fine."

"I love you," he whispered to her, and I smiled at them, proud of how far they'd come.

"_I cannot _believe_that I have to do a project with a hippie. He's legit, I swear! He wears tie-dyes; who does that anymore? He should've been born in the 60s! I'm pretty damn sure he's a stoner and today in class, he was blabbing about recycling and peace. What. The. FUCK? I wanted to strangle the motherfucker—after shooting Mr. Varner for assigning me with this douche. He took one look at me, and he raised his hand for a different partner. I've never been so humiliated in my life! And did you know that he pairs his tie-dye shirts with cowboy boots? How dare he question _my _fashion sense? Bella, Bella are you even listening to me?" _

"_Yes, yes, bad hippie and tie-dye shirts. Go on," I muttered as I traced the diagram of the digestive system from my anatomy book. High school was such a bore. My phone was on speaker next to me. _

"_Well anyway, I just don't know if I have it in me to look at him for an entire _week_. I'm going to have to do something about that. And his smoking problems. That's so disgusting. I mean, who would want to kiss you knowing your mouth is full of cancer? Eck." _

_I scoffed, grinning. I knew my sister too well. "So does that mean you'd kiss _after_he's clean?"_

_I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Well, he's not bad-looking, and I heard he has a six-pack... We'll have to see, B. Depends on how willing he is to stop wearing those hideous shirts. It looks like a rainbow puked on it." She pretend-gagged while I chuckled. I liked this Jasper. He got under her skin in a way I hadn't seen before. _

Five years later, they both kept their promises. Alice got him to stop "being hippie" (though I suspected that Jazz still had a tie-dye shirt hidden in the apartment somewhere) and Jasper calmed Ali down and made consider how her choices affected the people around her. And now, they were starting a family together.

I looked at the box in the corner, the closest thing I had to Edward then and wondered what he was doing. Knowing him, he was probably turning the place upside, searching for us... or did the tornado hit the hospital too? What if he'd been doing _rounds... No, no, I can't think like that. Not now. _I inhaled deeply and wiped the few tears that had escaped from my cheek.

A blood-curdling shriek bounced off the walls and I snapped back to see Ali holding Jasper's palm in a vice grip, a look of pure agony on her face.

"Ali, what is it? What's wrong?" Jasper was frantic. His eyes were darting all over, trying to find a wound. But maybe it was internal, I realized.

I placed my cool hand on her slick forehead. "Ali?"

I saw her lips move, but no sounds came out. Her face contorted again and she gasped. I could tell that she was trying to keep it all in for Jasper's sake. Sweat broke out on her forehead and she closed her eyes, attempting to be brave as a shudder went through her. Her knuckles were white as she gripped Jasper and air escaped through her lips in small gasps.

"Where does it hurt?" I whispered, though I already had an idea of what was happening.

"I... I... ba-ba-by," was all she managed before another contraction hit her and I decided that this was the worst possible day ever.

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

**Edward POV**

No one had been able to keep me from racing into the debris field once Jacob had told me about the house; I'd had to see for myself. Feeling weak as a kitten, I'd been easily contained by Emmett and Jacob when I lunged forward at seeing our home… or what was left of it. What had once been a beautiful three-storey brick building, our dream home, was now reduced to rubble.

The houses to the left, going down the street toward the school, were leveled. There was very little left to show that anything had ever stood there. Further down, the detached library of the school and the new gymnasium that had been recently built, lay in ruins, but through the fog surrounding me, I heard the blare of the emergency rescuers' radios. There were injuries, but it would seem the children had made it through. Not true for our neighbors—I already saw more bodies draped in sheets in the distance. The lucky ones had been to the right of us, going down Main Street toward where the triage area had been set up. For even though the houses were damaged, there was still hope as parts of the structures were still standing.

But these observations were done through a layer of numbness as I tugged frantically at my hair. Pacing, I could only think of one thing.

Bella…I'd made her go home!

Crashing to my knees, the anguish tore out of me, and I felt Jacob's hand on my shoulder. He, Emmett, and Riley had been waiting for me to fall apart. I'd heard their comments, behind my back, about how I was functioning like a robot. What they didn't know was that I'd learned how to put emotions and reactions aside to focus on the job… and in this case, I was but a hair away from all my defense mechanisms failing.

I'd sent her into this!

"Jake, I made her go home." I admitted to being my wife's executioner. How many times had I told her I wasn't good for her? How many times had she laughed at me? Now look what I'd done. I was a monster.

A sharp slap woke me from my nightmare, and I looked up to find Emmett kneeling before me. He'd actually smacked me. "Shut up!" I must have been talking out loud. "Get yourself together, Edward. Think about this. You sent Bella home why?"

"So she could be safe!" I growled.

"Exactly."

I wanted to lunge at him, but Jacob's hands on my shoulders stopped me.

"And she would be safe, because?"

Hope shot through me. Safe because of the basement! Bella would've remembered, right? Considering how much I'd argued with her and driven her crazy about it. Emmett grimaced at me when he saw that I'd thought through it. Looking back over his shoulder to the pile of rubble fifty yards away, I couldn't help but start praying.

"Now, they aren't going to let you ruin your pretty doctor's hands by digging through rubble, so suck it up and start doing what you do best. Riley has convinced them that you and Carlisle could do even better located here, so they're moving the first aid stuff up here. I'm sure Esme will have them organized and here in a few minutes. Riley is going to tell them about the basement, Edward. They won't stop until they make their way there."

Emmett was an ass, but he was my brother. I'd almost wanted to hug him when he gave me a hand to stand from where I'd collapsed to the debris-covered sidewalk. He walked away all assured, until he thought he was out of my sight, and that I was occupied. It was then I saw him lean up against a half-destroyed wall and wipe at his eyes. When he turned in guilt, our eyes met over the young boy I was bandaging. Shaking his head in commiseration, he held his fingers up in a heart over his chest, then pushed away and started walking down Main Street to help with the moves.

_Bella's laughter echoed through the open area. "Hey Em, get out here and help me lift this stuff. You're the muscles in this outfit," Bella challenged. She was dressed in overalls, her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, and paint covered as much of her as it didn't. We'd moved into the building while we worked on it. And while we'd had some really good times living like bohemians, the structure of the walls and decorations going up gave the place a sense of home. She was trying to get him to help put up some scaffolding so that she could reach the high areas on the walls._

_My brother had to tease her, of course, holding his back as if he was an old man, hobbling over._

_Bella smacked him on the ass when Emmett wobbled by. _

"_OW! Bells." He actually jogged several steps in response to get away from her. "What the hell was that for?" He rubbed his hand over the sore spot, glaring at her. _

"_Healed your back didn't it?" she scoffed, grinning at him in response. He rolled his eyes at her, but she earned his full attention when she added, "I needed to make sure you could lift that big pan of chicken fried steak, black eyed eyes, and mashed potatoes I made you for tonight."_

"_WHAT!?" Emmett mouthed in awe, his eyes widening out. _

_Bella was his personal food goddess. Having come from Forks, she specialized in seafood, fish and all kinds of organic, Green Peace, kinda foods. She was learning to cook Oklahoma style for Em, and her experiments were the things of his dreams. We'd all been teasing him about the extra weight he'd gained. "More to love," he'd say, rubbing his stomach when we did. _

_Later that evening, he'd pushed back from the table, folding his arms over his still flat abdomen._

"_Bella—" He patted the mass of muscles before putting his hand over his heart "—you are a girl after my own heart. Leave that worthless brother of mine," he proposed, waggling his eyebrows at her. _

_She tapped above her heart, forming the shape with her fingers over it. "Way to the man is through his stomach, Em. Edward's already captured my heart with his emo-boy act, but I tell you what, I'll keep your heart safe until you find Mrs. Bottomless Pit, 'kay?" she teased and then sent him into sugar heaven, serving up a plate of homemade blackberry pie and vanilla ice cream._

A day later, Bella and I had come home to find the living room completely painted, complete with a simple heart painted just above the front door.

"Keeping it Safe."

Those were the words Em had stenciled just below the heart, reminding us every time we walked out the door what to do.

A shout went out across the way, capturing my attention from my memories and the woman I was treating. She'd been lucky; I'd placed her right arm and leg in splints until she could be transported to the hospital for casts. After cleaning the gash on her head, I'd butterflied it shut until she could be stitched in a more sterile setting.

"You'll be good as new," I was telling her softly, squeezing her wrinkled hand gently as the paramedics picked the stretcher up, when the noise reached us.

Something was happening across the way, and my heart stopped. A group of firemen were standing amidst the outer area of the destruction of my house.

"We got one!" I heard a shout and for the life of me, I couldn't move. Dusk was beginning to set, and I was worried what it would mean. Certainly they would keep working. I could keep working, if it meant that I could stay here. Unable to see what they were doing, I could only wait.

"Medic!" One of the firefighters yelled out and against my better judgment, I lunged forward before any of the others could.

The seconds it took to get across the rubble seemed the longest in my life, and as soon as I broke through the line of rescue personnel, I had to take a deep breath.

Felix…

"_Babe, I think I may have our first renter." Bella's voice was excited. _

_We'd spent most of our money buying the building and then renovating it into a house. So, as Sam had encouraged, we'd discussed taking on renters, if we could find ones we liked. Bella was taking the whole landlord thing very seriously._

"_Yeah?" I responded, distracted for a moment as I changed from scrubs into my everyday clothes. Bella and I were going out, and I'd brought a nice outfit to impress her. Making use of the shower facilities, I was at least more presentable, although my hair was a wreck. Bella liked it that way, so I was going with it._

"_His name is Felix. He's like this beast, even more so than Emmett, but he is like majorly talented in modernism." I'd taken an art appreciation class in undergraduate so I knew a little about what Bella was talking about, but when she went into detail about his particular skills, I was lost. Thankfully, she came back to more concrete things. "Anyhow, his family is from Chicago, so he's here by himself, and he was asking Professor Jones about cheap housing. He's on scholarship, but I take it he comes from this big family there, and he's trying to be frugal as his little sister, Jane, will be joining him next year. I was thinking about the fact that the apartment has space enough for two… and we could cut them a deal… kinda help them out while they help us out, you know." She kept rattling on and on, and I could hear the excitement in her voice. _

"_Love…" I tried to interrupt, and when I finally was able to, said, "Breathe." She giggled. "Look, you trust this professor, and if he trusts this guy, then feel free to offer up. Okay?"_

"_I love you," she said softly._

"_Love you too. I'll be there in twenty minutes, so be sexy for me."_

"_Always…" _

_As I hung up the phone, I smirked at my wife's collection of lost souls. First me, then my family and friends, now Felix… Bella had the biggest heart._

Felix's vitals were crashing as we frantically attempted to stabilize him. The firefighters were working hard to get his leg untangled from the concrete that had collapsed on him. He should've been gone; he was supposed to pick up Jane for a visit from the airport this afternoon. As the minutes ticked by, his vitals took a turn for the worst; I knew what was going to happen. When Felix's heart stopped, I remembered the times he'd visited with Bella and me, the stories he'd told of his family and friends, his love for his little sister Jane, and his excitement about her coming to be in school with him. I thought of the times he'd eaten with us, challenging Emmett to eating contests and groaning that Bella's cooking even rivaled his mother's. I remembered his horrified face when Bella tried to set him up with Heidi, a friend of hers. It seemed that for Felix's size and larger-than-life personality, he was immensely shy when it came to dating. He'd talked about how he wanted to settle down one day, when he met the girl that wowed him, and start a big family.

Now, he wouldn't have that chance.

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

**Bella POV**

_Alice's a liar! We were not _fine_! _

Her screams filled the small space around us, making Jasper twitch and me want to pull my hair out. She was in labor. Her slight "uncomfortableness" had gone south before her water broke. We were in a fucking disaster zone, in the basement of our ruined home, surrounded by jagged metal and cement, and under the threat of possible ruptured lines of all sorts… and Alice was going to have her fucking baby.

_Sweet baby Jesus. _

I felt faint.

"Honey… you gotta breathe," Jasper reminded her, trying to help. Alice looked at him with fire in her eyes. Suddenly, I feared for Jasper's life. He might have survived a tornado so far, but he was in danger of having his head torn off by his laboring wife. His eyes widened as she cussed at him, threatening to cut his balls off.

Once Alice's contraction lessened, she started crying, apologizing for being "so bitchy."

"What can we do?" Jasper begged, hoping to get as much information from her in the small time she wasn't trying to castrate him.

"We need some towels or something to put under me. Bella, is there a knife in Edward's box?" I swallowed hard, trying to keep from throwing up the snacks I'd eaten. A knife? Why the hell did we need a _knife_? I couldn't get an answer as Alice kept talking through my mini panic. "We'll need some alcohol, something to wrap the baby in, some water…and are there any blankets in there?"

I must have looked like a deer in the headlights, because Alice barked at me. "BELLA!"

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" I lunged up and moved as fast as I could toward the box. I'd ask the questions later. Uncertain of everything that Alice had just said, I made a split second decision and grabbed the lip of the box, dragging it over the debris and back to where Jasper supported her.

Another scream coming from my sister had me wanting to scream too. She was my rock and had been all my life, but even more so when we'd lost Charlie.

_Ten thirty-five. The clock said ten thirty-five and Charlie wasn't home yet. That confused me, puzzled me. Charlie was like clockwork. He always woke up at the same time every day and ate his breakfast in ten minutes before heading to work. He came back sharply at nine fifteen, announcing how his day has been._

_But when the police car with its sirens on pulled into our driveway, I knew. _

_I walked numbly to the front door and opened it before he could knock. I didn't want to be rude. _

_Mark, Charlie's chief deputy, cut to the chase, his blue eyes somber. "Bella, I'm sorry. There's been… an accident." _

Accident? _I scoffed. _Getting shot in the line of duty is _not _an accident.

_I'd felt so alone in the time it took Alice to get home to Forks from Seattle. Mark and his wife sat with me, or I should really say watched me in my numbed confusion, as I tried to process it all. _

_We were alone. Completely and utterly alone. _

_I'd purposefully avoided thinking about what that meant until Alice had arrived, Jasper in tow. I waited until we got home... that wasn't really our home anymore. Simply a place packed with memories that caused the lump in my throat to expand. I waited until we stepped inside and locked the door behind us, to fall apart. Alice caught me and hugged me close. For hours, all you could hear was the sound of crying and hiccups. Jasper was with us, an arm around each of us, rubbing soothing circles on our backs. _

They'd been strong for me then, and now, it was my turn.

"Okay, Ali, I just brought it all. What do we need a knife for?" I asked, reaching in for the Swiss Army knife I'd seen.

"To cut the umbilical cord."

I almost dropped the knife back into the box. _Oh God… I'm definitely going to pass out. _There was a specific reason I wasn't a doctor. Blood and me are _not_ friends. Then I remembered all those classes I'd attended with her, and I started to breathe using the methods they'd taught. _It's gonna be okay. Many women go through this. It's completely natural. _

Shaking out a small blanket, I put it under Alice when Jasper gently lifted her. As soon as he lowered her on the blanket, another contraction hit her. The volume of my breathing went up, and it gave her something to focus on. Alice and I both panted through the contraction.

"You've got to clean the blade, Bella," she told me, waving at the alcohol wipes among the stuff I'd scattered across the clean lid of the box. "We'll need to wrap the baby in a blanket after you cut the cord."

_I_ cut the cord? What the hell! I'd known she wanted me to be involved, but _really_?

I consoled myself by thinking that I'd have to go through that eventually, and soon, remembering the conversation I had with Edward after attending a class with Alice.

"_E, how many babies did you say you wanted?" I asked him, looking through one of the many pregnancy magazines they'd handed out in class. A room full of happily-pregnant women had seriously messed with my hormones. _

"_Why did ya ask?" he replied from the bathroom. He'd just finished his shower. _

_I shrugged. "Just wondering." _

"_How many do _you _want?" _

"_Two... maybe three." I smiled at the thought of mini versions of Edward and me. Of course, we'd have to buy a house when we had kids. We wouldn't be able to manage them here. But the trouble would be worth it. _

_I heard the door open and out came my sexy boyfriend, his hair dripping wet, and a towel hanging low on his hips. It didn't help that his eyes gleamed wickedly at me in response. "I think we could do two to three. But... perhaps we should practice first?" _

He'd taken me against the wall soon after, and then I'd snuggled to him in our bed and laughed while telling him stories about all the funny pregnancy stuff I'd heard. Mostly it was talk about pink and blue color schemes and how they were going to decorate their nurseries. Alice and Jasper might have been the only couple I knew of in modern society who didn't want to know what they were having beforehand. So of course, she was going to paint the nursery green.

Edward and I had decided two things about me getting pregnant: we had to do it young and we'd want to know the gender as soon as possible. Esme and Carlisle were already trying, so we'd agreed to help each other out—to balance having a baby with our careers and date nights.

A guttural groan brought me back from the memories of my fuckhot boyfriend and I grimaced at the knife in my hand.

"I'm holding the baby, Jazz. You get all the joy," I said, handing him the knife I'd cleaned and wrapped in an alcohol wipe. This place was filthy with all the dust and rubble, and I was worried as hell about Ali giving birth here. Edward had talked to me about it, explaining how women need to have a good sterile environment with as little stress as possible and the provisions of medical support. We had absolutely _none_ of that.

We were so screwed.

But then again, it wasn't like we had much of a choice.

Alice's labor sped up then, the contractions getting stronger and quicker. In between the strong and hard contractions, Ali tried to tell us everything she could to make this easier on us, herself and the baby. It was easy to see how the pregnancy had changed Alice, how she'd become even more responsible and caring than she already was. She was going to be a great mother.

I'd wanted to be a great mother too, I thought, remembering the conversations with Edward. I wanted all my babies to look like him. I wanted red-headed, green-eyed little girls that would twist their dad around their little fingers, and I wanted tall, handsome boys that would break girls' hearts with their sweetness and beauty. I wanted to hold them to my chest and look down into their precious faces, and I wanted Edward beside me while I did it.

I tried to ignore the voice that screamed inside me saying I might not have the chance now. Jasper, Alice, the baby, and I might die here this night. Yes, the tornado had gone over, and we'd made it through that, but I was all too aware that the tangled mess above us could come down on our heads at any time.

_Edward would know what to do, _a voice whispered, reminding me that Edward wasn't here.

A sharp shrill cry from Alice covered up the sob that tore out of me. But it also made me "man up." Her pain and fear suddenly focused me. Alice was not going to die on my watch. Jasper was going to catch their baby as he or she made its entrance to this world, and I was going to help. They'd sacrificed enough for me—taking me in when Charlie died, even though they were a new couple and fresh in love, moving to Oklahoma to be closer to me.

The panic and fear faded, and I remembered… the things I'd learned.

"Ali, this is what we're going to do. I'm going to get behind you and support you so that you can push hard, 'kay? And Jasper is going to be there to help the baby into this world. So, take a deep breath now and when the next contraction comes, let's push."

I lost count, but when Jasper shouted out 'I see the baby's head' I thought we must have been laboring for hours. Alice sobbed in pain and relief, her tiny body already tensing with the next contraction.

"C'mon sis, we can do it. Make me an auntie," I begged and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

And God bless her because that is exactly what she did. With one last heroic push, she pushed a healthy, fat baby into the world.

Jasper gasped, his eyes big and filled with wonder, and then chuckled. Holding the baby in one arm, he grabbed the knife I'd left to his side. When a squall filled the air, announcing how unhappy the baby was, Jasper looked up to Alice with love shining in his blue eyes. I bit my bottom lip as I teared up. I was an aunt!

It didn't matter that we were buried in hell, or that our lives were in limbo.

It didn't matter that the passing hours were beginning to worry me as I began to believe that possibly people might think we were dead even though Edward would never give up on us.

It didn't matter that we were all three beaten to Hell and back, sore and bleeding.

For there was one miracle that outshone it all.

Raising the baby up so that we could see its face, Jasper announced, "Mama, meet Jackson Charles Whitlock."

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

**Edward POV**

"_E, I have a surprise for you," Bella had teased just fifteen minutes earlier, when she'd called to let me know that she and Alice would be arriving soon and for me "to be prepared." Every time she used those words together, my dick jumped to attention._

_She'd been gone for a week, having driven with Alice to Forks to pick up a few family heirlooms to put in the house. It was finally complete, the last paintbrush put to all the rooms, the final glitch resolved. And, she'd had this bright idea to travel to Washington State to pick up the stuff she and Alice had saved from their childhood home, giving us a "week break." _

"_It's all about it being special. Our housewarming," she'd teased, fluttering her eyes at me seductively. _

_I'd been a whiney baby about her leaving me, but now, I could see her point. I was like a randy teenage boy, ready to get my hands on her. It would be our first time of making love in our completed house, and I was going to make it memorable. Having made our bed with new silk sheets and lit the candles around the room, I made sure that soft music filled the space around me, and that the champagne chilled in a bucket of ice. Then, just as she instructed, I waited for her to come through the bedroom door._

_It couldn't be too soon. I wanted her!_

_As if my wishing made it happen, she appeared. I had little time to puzzle over the trench coat and heels she was wearing, because I stood up to lunge at her, eager to kiss her._

_Holding her hand up, she wiggled her finger at me. "No! Sit there."_

_Yes ma'am! Both my dick and I responded. _

_A lot happened after that, but what I remembered through the strip tease she gave me was the sight of her in heels, the black teddy, her bright red lips and the healing tattoo she'd uncovered. It was a capital E, put into Superman's shield. And it was right over her heart, vibrant in blue and red against her pale flesh. _

_It was the sexiest fucking thing I'd ever seen._

_Feathering my lips across it, I couldn't help but groan. "From the first moment I saw you, you've held my heart. I wanted you too much; I still do. You hold my salvation or destruction in the palm of your hand, Bella." I placed her hand in my hair, silently begging her to bury her fingers in it. She had no clue what it did to me to feel her fingers tugging at me. I brought her wrist to my lips, nibbling at the soft flesh there. "Tonight, I am going to drive any thought out of your head other than here and now. I plan to worship every inch of your body, making sure that you carry the memory of my love in every pore."_

_I heard her moan as I placed her hand above my rapidly beating heart and settled my lips against her throat. Feeling the vibrations of her body against mine, I felt myself grow harder. _

"_I need to calm the fuck down," I thought, borrowing Emmett's favorite statement to me. _

_There would be time for the hard and fast stuff later. I wanted to make love to her. My Bella! I lost a little control and snarled into her neck on instinct, knowing that the woman lying below me had chosen me, and that she'd made that clear with the ink she'd chosen. God I'd missed her—a week was too long to be apart._

"_Yes, yours, and you are mine," she said softly, telling me I must have spoken out loud. _

_The whimper of need that escaped me would have sounded pathetic except for the fact that it let Bella know the amount of control she had over me. I could be a controlling bastard in bed, but Bella's pleasure was always my compass. Even with my quirks and craziness, she'd chosen me. I wanted to shout from the roof of our home that she was mine. _

"_I love you," I murmured gruffly against her throat, letting every emotion and thought I felt be prevalent in my tone. _

_My fingers pulled through the fine waves of her hair, anchoring her head to the silk of our bed. The deep brown and auburn strands caressed the skin of my fingers, and for a few moments, I relished the slide of it across my sensitive tips. Spreading her hair like a halo around the cherished features of her face, I marveled at her luminous skin before brushing my thumbs across her graceful cheekbones. _

_Her groan of pleasure pulled me to taste her, so I placed my lips over the right cheekbone and feathered kisses across the delicate structure. My path led to her ear, and I took an extraordinarily long time tracing the lobe before nibbling. A growl of pleasure erupted from me when she moved her hips under me, rubbing against my hardness._

"_Angel…" I whispered, softly breathing across her slightly damp skin. She shuddered in reaction, her hand cinching in my hair. "God…you have no idea how much I love feeling you do that," I said, sliding my mouth and tongue along her chin. She attempted to lower her lips to mine, but I wanted to nibble at her other ear as well. _

_Softly brushing her hair away from the delicate skin just behind her ear, I sucked it gently into my mouth. Sliding my free hand across the silk of her negligee, I placed it so that my fingers lay across the swell of her breast, my fingertips just touching my tattoo. The thought had me growling in possessive need. She pushed her breasts against me in a silent plea, and I chuckled softly, not willing to move just yet. _

"_Patience, angel." _

_Running my tongue across her skin, I collected her taste, savoring it, allowing it to soak into the rough texture of my tongue. My hand clenched softly, and I quickly moved it behind her shoulder to pull her closer into my searching mouth. I used the greater access to bite softly at the strong muscles leading down to the soft line of her shoulder. She moaned at the feel of my teeth against her. _

_Too rough… I was being too rough. I broke away for a moment, panting, but she used the fingers laced into my hair to press my lips firmly against her again. _

"_Again, Edward…" _

_So I grazed my teeth along her collarbone, just hard enough to bring pleasure without marring her skin. The silk of her negligee kept me from going further._

"_May I?" I asked, pulling back to look into her lust-filled eyes._

_She followed the retreat of my body and sat up. I knew the revealing of her flesh, one small inch at a time, would be an incredibly erotic visual feast. Once again, I took a few moments to run my fingertips through her long hair, enjoying the slide of silk through them. Bringing a section to my nose to inhale the scent deeply, I committed it to memory and noticed the slight vibration of her body. Grabbing the mass of it, I wrapped the length around my fist several times and pulled her a little impatiently into me. Closing my eyes, I ran my fingertips across the delicate arch of her neck, causing goose bumps to rise along her skin. She hissed in impatience, and I moved my lips to murmur against the skin of her neck. _

"_Allow me my moments, Bella. Making love to you… I spent years dreaming of it… before I even knew it would be you. And now we are here, in our home… and you're mine… and God, I missed you."_

_She stilled, and I used the tip of my nose to trace the line of her hair against the creamy white skin, ending my exploration by placing a soft kiss just behind each earlobe. Gently placing the mane of her hair across her shoulder, I brought my slightly shaking hands to the straps that kept me from viewing the most alluring body I'd ever seen. Inches of glorious unblemished skin were only interrupted by the black silk she tortured me with. Using my hands to smooth along her shoulders, it fell down her arms, and she shifted subtly to allow it to slide across her hips._

"_Edward, remove your shirt, please." What was I even wearing? I couldn't remember. She giggled softly, realizing just how distracted I'd been. _

_My shirt joined the inky blackness of her lingerie, and then she leaned gently into me, bringing our skin together in a decadent manner. Her head rested against my chest, and I used the tips of my fingers to caress the length of both of her arms, mesmerized by the slenderness. She finally grabbed my wandering hands, linking our fingers so that she could run her fingertips across the top. She seemed mesmerized by the play of bone and muscle. _

_A soft moan of contentment gathered between us as Bella connected our lips again. This time, she twisted her body and slowly pressed us to the bed. Her lips feathered over mine before she took my bottom lip into her mouth to suck at it. She nibbled lightly at the flesh before she pressed for me to open wider. Then, I had the exquisite pleasure of feeling her tongue brush over mine. We spent slow moments tasting each other, tongues exploring and then as the time passed becoming more aggressive. _

_She rose to straddle my body, and I was stunned at the beauty of her. When she threw her hair behind her shoulders, I was able to look on the expanse of creamy white skin, her high breasts, and my "E." As I gazed into her lust-laden eyes, I placed my hands at her waist and softly began the path upwards. My thumbs came to rest under the weight of her breasts, pressing them high into the air as I rubbed the soft skin underneath. Her nipples pebbled harder, and I could no longer deny my need. Sitting up to take one in my mouth, I rubbed the tip with my tongue. Bella screamed my name, and my hips ground into the heat above them. My arm wrapped around her back, pulling her into me as I stroked her other nipple with my thumb. I alternated between nibbling, licking, and sucking to tantalize them both. Attempting as much as possible to ignore the grinding of her wetness against me, I knew I was losing the battle. _

"_Edward… God… " _

_She tugged at my hair as she rotated into me, dragging herself across the length of my arousal. _

"_Gonna…" _

_I could feel it—she was about to explode, and so I bit slightly into the swell of her breast and grabbed her hip with one free hand to secure her tightly to me so that I thrust against her, sending her over the edge. A fresh wave of her scent wafted to me just before her body went rigid, and she drew a gasp of air. I brushed my hands along the strong muscles of her back, soothing her, until I felt her begin to shudder against me. She slumped slightly, laying her face on the top of my head. _

"_You are going to kill me," she muttered in satisfaction. _

"_Impossible, that is only the beginning," my husky voice replied. I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in her._

_She groaned in need, putting her lips at my ear. "Really? What's stopping you?" she whispered in challenge._

_I chuckled darkly. She found herself flipped to the bed below me. The plane of her abdomen caught my attention, and I placed my cheek to it, smoothing our skin against each other in an attempt to calm myself. The smell and heat of her hit me full force, and I was surprised she didn't cry out at the way I gripped her hips. I knew for a fact how intoxicated I would become from her taste, and after allowing a snarl to erupt from my chest, I began moving to the very core of her._

"_Edward… I want… I want to taste you…"_

"_Later!" I growled, going all primordial male on her. _

_Her gasp as my lips hovered above her heated flesh excited me. "What do you want, Bella?"_

_She screamed a little in frustration at my ploy._

"_Tell me!" I ordered, making sure that my hot breath blew over her. _

_She shifted, trying to find friction, but I stopped her, spreading her legs even further apart and looking down onto her pink, wet pussy. She was swollen and wet, and I moved to brush the tip of my nose up one side of her swollen lips, making sure to hit her clit in the process. When she clenched in need, I couldn't help the wolfish grin. She was so fucking perfect, and I couldn't wait to bury my dick into her. Instead, I tapped my fingertips on her clit, demanding an answer._

_She bucked up harshly at the contact even as she screamed, "Your lips on me, your tongue on me."_

_I nipped her clit in payment, and then groaned in bliss when her fingers tangled through my hair holding me to her while she rocked her hips into my face. Wrapping my hands around to grab her ass, I secured her to me and dined; her taste was amazing. She was wet from her earlier orgasm, and I lapped at her, running my tongue through her folds and diving into her, mimicking what I fully intended to enjoy soon. When I swirled around her clit, she hissed in pleasure._

"_Again, Edward… please," she moaned._

_I did as ordered but flattened my tongue against her, knowing from the tension throbbing through her that it would be all that it would take. She shattered against me again, panting my name. I enjoyed the subtle fucking motion of her hips against my face._

_Was three times enough for a welcome home warm up? _

_I moved my fingers to her wetness and smoothed across her, sliding into the scalding tightness of her body to delicately stretch her. _

"_Oh… my… God. Edward, I can't." She put her hands to the side of my face and pulled me to face her. I watched her eyes as I continued to pump inside of her slowly, stretching gently. Her face was still flush, her lips plump from where she had bitten at them._

"_Yes, you can." I didn't leave it to question. "You left me… here all alone for a week. I fucking went crazy, Bella. Give it to me, now. You can do it."_

"_Edward," she growled, attempting to threaten me against what I wanted from her. But she was losing the test of wills. I could feel the next orgasm building already, her walls clenching against my fingers. _

_I smirked and enjoyed the sight of her losing the fight as passion flashed across her face, and her mouth slackened softly as I pushed slowly back into her swelling body again. Her face was a masterpiece as she prepared to orgasm. Her eyes were heavily hooded in desire, and she ran her tongue across her lips. Her hair fanned out around her in a riotous mess as she arched subtly into me. I ran my thumb across one of her nipples as I curved my other fingers inward and was enthralled by the soft shudders that followed as she twisted and arched against me again, hands grasping at my biceps forcefully, face frozen in the throes of release. _

_I enjoyed the feeling of her panting heavily against me, knowing that I had wrung every ounce of pleasure out of her. But Bella was Bella, and she was determined to give as good as she'd got._

_After a few moments, she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and turned us to where she straddled me again, running her fingers across the structure of my face and then down my chest, lacing through the fine hairs there. She proceeded to nibble at my jaw, alternately sucking at my skin and licking across it. I was hard as a rock, and the feeling of her hands and lips across my skin set fire to my body, pressing me closer to losing what little control I had. I enjoyed, though, the play of interest across her face as her eyes followed the pathways she took in her exploration. Finally, she moved lower to unbutton my pants and run her hand across my abdomen. I watched her hungry eyes watch the inches of my flesh appear as she pulled my pants and boxers slowly down my legs. _

"_You're beautiful," she whispered softly, brushing her fingertips up and down my length. _

"_I'm not certain a thoroughly aroused male body is considered beautiful, Bella," I choked out._

"_Yours is."_

_I leaned up and connected our lips, bringing her body against mine, growling when her breasts touched my chest and her heated sex settled against my erection. "I can't last much longer…"_

"_GOOD!" she groaned against my lips. "Make love to me."_

_I chuckled in pain at hearing those words. "I thought that is what I'd been doing."_

_Burying my hands in her hair, I let go, bringing her lips back to me. Plunging my tongue into her mouth, I demanded a reaction. Her hands moved across my ribs and stomach to wrap around me. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and my mouth tore from hers as I uttered a curse._

"_Edward Cullen!" she snickered as she brushed her hand up and down my length. I was incapable of responding. _

_Payback was hell – or, in this case, heaven._

_Unintelligible sounds escaped my throat as a burn like fire spread through my bones and body, pulling at my abdomen. Her gentle caresses were torturous as they ghosted across me, and I was putty in her hands. Bella leaned down and started a passionate kiss as she continued to run her small hands across me. When she circled me and began to apply pressure, my hips moved against her, increasing the friction, and I broke the contact between our lips to growl out her name. It was exquisite torture, but I startled when she started kissing down my chest. As much as I lusted to feel her lips wrapped around me, I would explode if she touched me like that, and I wanted the first time this night to be inside her. I rolled us across the bed once more, ending up with our bodies perfectly aligned._

_Looking down into her face, I was amazed at her beauty. My angel… the reason for my existence. _

_The tightness and wet heat of her threatened to break all my ability to focus and go slow, and I muffled my shout of ecstasy as she wrapped her legs around me and pulled my body fully into her. We both gasped at the feeling of completion, our eyes locked in looks of adoration. I was surrounded in heat—amazing, scalding, all-encompassing heat—nestled in the body that was as much home to me as the one we'd built together… the one we were celebrating. _

"_MINE!" I groaned, placing my lips gently to the "E" on her breast._

"_Yes, mine."_

_Who moved next and started the beautiful symphony was a mystery. Bella wrapped her legs around my hips, bringing our bodies more flush against each other. The position allowed me to go further, and the slickness of her sex drove me crazy. I grasped her hips, angling her body more, and I drove deeper, faster, wilder against her. Miraculously, I felt her begin to swell again like a vise grip around me. "Fuck... fuck… fuck… not yet…" I muttered internally, enjoying the push and pull of her around me, wanting it to continue forever. _

"_Please, Edward!" she screamed, coming apart. _

_Everything in my body focused on the feel of her wrapped around me, seeing her head thrown back in abandoned, neck exposed—and I snapped. Exploding as I bit at her shoulder, I ground into her selfishly, rocking my hips back and forth to prolong the mind encompassing feeling of claiming her. I sank into delicious oblivion as I came hard into her, shuddering over and over again as I growled against her skin before collapsing on her. _

_Totally satiated and at peace, I finally found an ounce of energy and moved off her, hoping I hadn't crushed her. At my worried look, she smiled, running her hand across my chest before we repositioned into our favorite post-sex snuggle, her head on my chest, my fingers playing through her hair._

"_Edward?"_

"_Hmmm…" I hummed, unable to even open my eyes. How she had the strength to lean up on her elbow and look down at me, I couldn't understand. _

"_I don't know what I would ever do if I lost you," she said in a suddenly serious voice._

_At the sad sound of her voice, I found the strength to focus on her. "Bella, angel. I promise with every ounce of strength I have that nothing will ever come between us."_

"Edward, you need to take a break and eat something," Esme said softly, placing a hand on my arm, pulling me from the memory of my and Bella's housewarming night.

Nodding to the paramedics that the woman I'd been working on was ready to go, I turned to my sister-in-law. I wanted to snap that I would eat when Bella did, but seeing the love in Esme's soft blue eyes, I bit my tongue. It was nearing midnight, and I couldn't remember when I'd eaten last. A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, and Esme took control, putting her arm through mine and leading me to the tent that had been set up for the rescuers.

A sudden hush fell over the group as she made me sit and handed me a bottle of water before turning away to "go fetch something" for me to eat. I was certain they all knew my story, and the hushed whispers I overheard as I bent over and put my head between my hands confirmed my suspicions.

"Working all day…"

"His girlfriend, her pregnant sister, and her husband…"

"Saved one of those kids, his brother and he…"

"Ms. Brewer said he held her hand while he cleaned her up."

"Found one of his friends, but the guy died…"

"Don't know if anyone is alive in the rubble…" the guy's hushed voice went softer, but then I heard "…they're bringing in the dogs."

Cadaver dogs…

NO! I thought snapping back up. They couldn't be turning it into a recovery mission so soon. They had to stay with search and rescue just a little longer! Yes, I'd acknowledged that less and less of those being brought in had needed my and Carlisle's medical care—more and more were being brought in body bags—but they hadn't been able to get the debris cleared yet. It'd only been six or seven hours since the storm hit. It was too soon.

I'd sworn nothing would ever separate us, and I wasn't going to let them stop until we were at the bottom of that pile. I stood to go, but several of the guys saw me and realized I'd overheard. One started to speak when Riley appeared at my side.

"Edward! Hold up!"

"NO! Get out of my way. I'll dig myself, Riley. If they are ready to give up on it, I'll do it."

There had been an influx of need doctors, nurses, and paramedics during the time I'd been working on the last woman, so they had enough resources now that my skills wouldn't be missed. My hands might be shaking too much to give medical care, but I was capable of digging.

Bella was buried under that pile of rubble, and the thought made me crazy. I couldn't stand to sit still one more minute, or patch up another person attempting to keep myself from imploding. My heart ached, like a huge hole was opening up inside. I was going to fall apart from the agony of not having Bella at my side, not being able to kiss her, not knowing if she were alive or dead, hurt or okay.

She was my everything… my _everything_. We were the two halves that made a whole. She taught me to laugh and play, while I provided her security. She pushed, and I pulled. She brought me out of my shell, and I settled her—made her feel "cherished and loved."

She was my all, my angel, my forever. And I couldn't go on without her. I wouldn't survive losing her.

"Edward, sit down," Carlisle ordered at my side, dropping a sandwich, apple and bottle of water on the table before me. It was then I realized I'd been pacing frantically, lost in my thoughts; I literally had to pull my hands from my hair, and I was guessing I looked like a crazed man. "You won't make it two feet into that rubble until you rest and refuel; so do that, then you and I'll go together." He straddled the bench and then swung forward to face the table himself, another identical meal in front of him.

Esme narrowed her eyes at me, letting me know I wouldn't win in this.

"But Carl—" I started.

"No buts. Sit your ass down, eat, and then we'll go!" He snarled, but I saw the unexpected tears in his eyes.

"Hey man," I looked to see several of the emergency workers standing unsurely to my side. "Hey, Ms. Brewer... she, um…was my teacher in grade school. Thanks for, uh, taking care of her. Finish your sandwich, and…" he looked to the others and they nodded "…when the fresh guys come in in about fifteen minutes, we'll stay with you. It's not like they're going to make us move. There are a ton of volunteers all over the place, so we can convince them to let you in." He shuffled under my stare. "Okay?"

I was stunned by their generosity. They had to be as tired as I was, and I was certain they had families to go home to. My home lay in ruins, and the fate of the woman I loved, Jasper and Alice were in question. But there was no reason for them to help me, other than the goodness of their hearts. I'd just been doing my job for their friend, it was that simple, really.

"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say, so it was just twenty minutes later that fueled with not one, but two sandwiches and a large cup of coffee, I gratefully accepted a set of gloves from David, the guy who'd originally approached me.

"Okay, we're in luck. I know the guy who's about to be in charge. He's a good one. A little fanatical, but if you can handle that…" He shrugged.

I didn't care about fanatical, just being able to work on what was left of my house. They'd cleared a ton of the bricks and debris away, so it wouldn't be long before we got to the basement, but I was just hoping that it hadn't collapsed, or been filled with debris, or…

STOP! I swore at myself and then heard a commanding voice.

"Okay, people. Here's the plan," a tall man with a megaphone said. He had to use the damn thing to be heard over the ruckus within the block. The noise of backhoes and bulldozers, the screaming of sirens, and the general chaos of a disaster scene was almost deafening at times. "We've laid out a grid of the areas that haven't been searched yet. Canine will be here shortly with the dogs, so you'll need to work beside them. Now, they're trained to pick up on those that are already deceased, but I can tell you that their ears are incredible. If they show interest in an area, but don't signal a body, I suggest we search anyway. We still have the hope that there are people out there alive. I plan to find them. Any questions?" he shouted, his frustration clear.

When no one answered, he then surprised the hell out of me. "Then we are going to take a moment in prayer." He looked angry at the noise around him, and suddenly yelled into the megaphone. "Shut it!"

The words rang out over the area, and at points in the distance, I heard various other individuals echo the same order. An eerie calm settled over the area, and when he finally had the quiet he desired, the man began.

"Our Father…"

A muffled wail barely made itself known, but it was so unexpected that none of us realized what it was.

"Who art in heaven…"

Then another came and the murmurings started. The noise around us had covered up the sound—a thin, shrill cry. It hadn't had a chance of being overhead with all the noise of rescuers.

"A baby!" I mouthed, just as the realization hit everyone else. "A baby!" I shouted, realizing it was coming from within the dwindling pile of the rubble of my home.

As the rest of the large group around me burst into action, I started screaming. "Bella! Alice! Jasper!"

The workers began banging on the metal and broke out into cheers when they heard an answering sound. My heart seemed to drop to my feet. A noise!

"Bella!" I yelled down into the pile, as if she could actually hear me, but I was hoping that if the baby could be heard…

Baby? Alice's?_Oh hell!_

"BELLA!" I yelled again, just as Emmett, Jake, Riley and Carlisle appeared at my side and I almost collapsed in relief when I heard her voice.

"…ward?" It was faint, not even complete, but it was perhaps the sweetest half word I'd ever heard. I started crying, great, big, unmanly sobs. Carlisle grabbed my shoulders supporting me as everything crashed in around me. It was Bella's voice!

Emmett yelled, "BELLS!" His booming voice most likely carried farther than mine.

"Ali… gets… dirt." She seemed to say back, but I wouldn't even stop to try to figure it out.

Those around us began laughing, but finding my strength to move from Carlisle's support, I started handing pieces of debris to the man behind me. In turn, he did the same, and the mound of broken bricks and twisted metal started dwindling fast. Our line wasn't the only one going.

_Please God let them be safe. Please God let them be safe. Please God let them be safe._

The words became my mantra, as piece after piece, I worked to clear the mess that stood between us.

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**A/N: **I'd love to know your thoughts. Take care. xoxo


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

**Bella POV**

So, Jackson was probably the loudest baby ever, I decided as Jasper walked around in the small space, cradling his son in his arms. He was attempting to lull Jackson to sleep, but had been unsuccessful in his mission so far. Even clean and wrapped in a blanket, the little man was unhappy with his world.

Ali had been insistent on me cleaning up Jackson first, and it had been very simple. I'd only had to bathe and dry him. Though he was a little fussy, I'd managed, convincing myself that it was training for the future. I'd washed him down with bottled water and dried him with the softest towel I could find, then handed him to Jasper once I was done. Then following Ali's directions, I'd cleaned her up. Ugh…

But Jackson only calmed down after Jasper, with an exhausted look on his face, decided to hand him to his mommy. I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I thought of all the sleepless nights and tantrums that were waiting for him. Poor boy.

Suddenly, all the emotions from... everything seemed to crash down on me, and my body involuntarily began to shut down. Knowing that I won't be able to stop the exhaustion, I grabbed a blanket and a pillow and trudged to a corner. It was the stress, I convinced myself.

Sirens... wailing... Fuck, the police were after me. But I didn't do anything! I jumped into the Bugatti that just happened to be sitting on the curb, keys in ignition. I started the car and accelerated in a speed that shocked me.

I shot upright, gasping from the shock and pain in my back, only to close my eyes when I realized the "sirens" were Jackson's wails. My God, would that baby ever shut up! He was the cutest thing alive, but man…

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes!" Jasper called out, and it did me good to hear him use such a carefree tone. I scrambled over to the new family just in time to see Ali feeding the baby. I was just about to 'awww' at the scene, when I remembered that Ali might not be stable yet. I flinched remembering how she'd almost ripped Jazz's dick off during the labor. So, I simply took a seat next to her instead of putting my life in danger.

"Was I out too long?"

"No, not all. Jasper and I were just discussing all the things we'll have to buy for the baby."

"Right, right, of course." They'd covered all the main items like cribs and baby monitors, but my sister was in love with details, so they'd still had a little bit of shopping to do before everything was officially done. More than they'd planned, I'm sure, since everything was gone.

"Bella, you have to save me." Jasper looked at me, grinning slightly. The first time around had been bad enough; I couldn't even imagine what Ali would be like the second time.

I snorted. "Like I'd ever get in the middle of you two."

Jasper chuckled while Alice pouted at me. I simply shook my head and leaned back against the wall. As Alice and Jasper discussed their future in whispers, and with nothing else to do but wait, I let my mind wander for the first time.

Edward…

I knew that I had to trust him; it was the only way I was going to get through this sanely. But I couldn't stop the tiny part of me that wondered what would happen if he never found us. Would we die in here? That would be awfully morbid, considering the newborn, and my mind started to go crazy with all the possibilities.

No, he'd find us! I shouted in my head, stopping the chaos. We just had to hang on.

I had enough faith in him to know that much. I also knew him well enough to know that he was probably losing his mind right now. I could almost imagine him, sitting at the back of an ambulance because they wouldn't let him dig, his hands tugging his hair painfully. I could only hope that Carlisle would be there with him, calming him.

A sudden thought crossed my mind, and my heart dropped to my stomach in dread. Esme! She was at home too, and Gran's old house wasn't that far from here. I prayed to God that Esme was okay. Carlisle did not deserve to lose someone close to him... again. Though he was the most mature and calm in the trio, losing Gran had taken a toll on him. Edward may have been the closest to Gran, but I knew within a few minutes of seeing them together that Carlisle respected and loved her very much. She was a rock to both Carlisle and Edward, their support system, their personal cheerleader. Of course, Emmett adored her as well, but Emmett was Emmett. He didn't let his emotions show as much. Even if he had, I doubted that he would've made them public, keeping them between him and Gran. No, he was too macho-man for that.

I chuckled, remembering the first time I met Emmett.

A burly, dark-haired man approached me with a grin. "So, you're the stripper?"

My jaw almost dropped to the floor. "Excuse me?"

He scoffed. "Come on, spill it. There's no way in hell that nerdy brother of mine got a girlfriend willingly. How much did he pay you?"

I felt my eyebrows rise at his every word, and the funny thing was that he truly believed what he was saying. "Well, Mr. Cullen, it appears that you have been misinformed. I am Edward's girlfriend. No, he did not pay me. Yes, I love him, and the fact is that I'm very lucky to be his girlfriend considering he's kind, smart, caring and quite well-endowed."

There. Take that.

Once I was done with my little speech, I side-stepped him and walked into the house to find Edward.

It was safe to say that Emmett kept his distance from me for a bit, before slipping back into his jovial self. Even though I'd thought he was a complete jackass, I'd given him a second chance since Edward loved him so much. As I got to know him, I realized why. Emmett might be immature and cocky, but he was also the most loyal friend anyone could have, and he was actually kinda funny. My heart tugged violently in my chest as I realized I might never see him again. My hands balled into a fist tightly as I tried to control my emotions. I wasn't the only one here suffering, and I was pretty sure it'd freak out Ali and Jasper to see me like this. They'd been through too much today.

A loud roar interrupted my thoughts, and I looked to my right to see where the sound was coming from. Though I couldn't see any difference, I figured that it had to be the rescuers. Then debris started to fall to the floor in little pieces.

A strange sense of peace washed over me. It was them. I could feel my Edward! He was out there, on top of the mess over us. He was looking for us, and he wouldn't give up!

But I didn't let the hope and relief take me by storm yet. No-that would happen after we were out of this hellhole, because the falling debris was starting to worry the shit out of me. I looked at Jasper, Alice and the crying Jackson, because the noise had woken him. Jasper wouldn't even look at Jackson, studying the floor with his jaw clenched, and Ali's eyes were full of tears. But Jasper hovered over them, protecting them with his body. Alice reached out to grab me, and I moved closer and threw my arms around my big sister, trying to protect her and Jackson from that side.

He's coming. We're gonna be saved.

I was fighting against the hopeful emotions with all that I had, because if they didn't find us... I wouldn't be able to take it. So I sat, my arms around my best friend and sister, waiting for the noise to stop, waiting to see what happened next. After a while, and no more falling debris, I moved next to Jasper. I leaned on his shoulder to calm him and myself down. It was freaking me out to see Jasper like this. He was always the most level-headed person—admittedly he still was rational, more rational than me—and to feel him this tight and bound was heartbreaking. Jasper was a free spirit, the one that Ali had loved in him from the start.

The thundering roar stopped after a while, and we all realized at the same time that it was replaced with voices. Even over Jackson's crying, we could hear them...Could they could hear us? I was up in a flash and rushed to the spot where the noise was coming from. My heart almost stopped when I heard his perfect voice, screaming for us. The tears were unstoppable then, pouring down my face. My throat began clogging up...again.

He was here. He was finally here.

"EDWARD!" I yelled out, sobbing. The night's events all crumbled down on me, rendering me helpless. I simply curled up in a ball as emotions crashed over me, one after the other.

Another 'Bella!' bounced around these hollow walls, and I smiled when I realized that Emmett was there, too.

Were they all here? Oh my God!

The baby! Edward needed to know. "Alice gave birth!" I yelled out, but there was no reply. Wonderful.

"Bells, you need to get out of the way!" Jasper called out to me, his voice raspy.

I nodded even though he couldn't see me and slowly walked to his side of the room, running my hand along the wall for support. I aimed my flashlight and discovered Jasper and Alice against a wall. Something had fallen, I could tell, as Alice had another small gash on her forehead, and Jasper had acquired a nastier one and seemed to be holding one of his arms closer to his body. His other arm was wrapped tightly around a whimpering Alice and the crying Jackson, who was sure to start raising hell soon. I sat beside him and grabbed Ali's hand. I needed her support, her presence, as much as she needed me. I moved my thumb in soothing circles on her palm, trying to calm her down. She couldn't freak out too much, she'd just given birth.

We all flinched as the noises picked up again with a crash, but now it was different, less... methodical. Alice gripped my fingers tightly as she got comfortable against Jasper. This was going to be a while, I realized. I sighed and shifted until I wasn't uncomfortable. They knew we were there. They knew we were alive and well. So, then it was just a waiting game.

But it was the most horrible of waiting games as we watched debris fall here and there, wondering if and when the next piece would come down on us. At times I wanted to scream for them to stop, but I knew I couldn't. It was the only way to get us out of here.

How long we waited, I wasn't sure, but I thought it was probably about an hour. I'd lost all sense of time down here. Suddenly, none of it mattered as my dimming flashlight highlighted a pair of legs lowering from the ceiling. Some light filtered through the open hole, but it wasn't much, and I realized that it was still night.

"The stairs collapsed," Jasper warned, and I heard the guy huff. He muttered something to himself before he swung his legs a bit and jumped. Thankfully, he didn't land on a pile of rubble and sprain his leg.

I ran my flashlight over the man and my heart clenched when I saw that it was Jake.

Jake!

The onslaught of emotions that I'd managed to tamper down rose again, and I started hiccupping and sniffing like it was nobody's business. Jake grinned when he saw us all cuddled up in a corner.

"You guys alright?" Jake asked.

Jasper scoffed, and I knew what he meant. A tornado had just destroyed our home, causing us to spend hours or days in a basement where we'd been unconscious for a period of time, and when we'd woken, we'd had to treat our wounds, worry about falling debris and sharp objects, and deliver a fussy, loud baby.

But then I thought about how we would all be safe and happy now, and I started whimpering again.

It was probably not the best reaction, as I saw Jake snap his head toward me, and his eyes filled with concerned.

"Bella! Bella, what's wrong?!"

His voice had a natural boom like Emmett's, so his words bounced off the walls, apparently enough for the "outsiders" to hear, because I heard a really concerned, borderline, neurotic redhead losing it, his voice screaming Jake's name. My baby.

I stood and punched Jake in the arm for frightening Edward before launching myself at him. He caught me easily, wrapping his huge, meaty arms around me. I winced as the pain in my back sparked back to life, and Jake dropped me on my feet and spun me around to examine me.

"I'm fine, Jake." Only after he determined that for himself, did he move to inspect Ali and Jazz, but not before he yelled back up, "Edward! She's fine."

"E! Babe!" I yelled, but then Ali distracted me by handing me Jackson and for the first time, I really looked at it... erm, him. He was so tiny, a little longer than a basketball, and so light too. I moved him around a bit in my arms as he gurgled and, I swear, smiled at me.

Hmph, maybe he wasn't that bad after all.

"Alright," Jake said as he concluded his check-up. "The baby's going up first, then Alice, Bella and Jasper, okay?"

"Bella!" I heard Edward yell again, but I knew that Jackson, Alice and Jasper needed to go first.

"But they shoul—"

"No buts." A rough, yet smooth voice commanded, and I turned around to Em standing right behind me. I scrambled back in shock. How the fuck had I not noticed him? He looked at me sternly. So I did what any mature, twenty-five year old would do, I placed my free hand on my hip and stuck my tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes before trapping me in a bear hug.

"Edward's okay?" My voice was muffled against his chest, a startled Jackson between us.

"You mean aside from losing his mind?" He snorted. "Yeah, he's fine."

Jake clapped decisively, ruining our moment. "I think we should get moving, people. Ain't got all day!" He poked Ali to move forward, towards the tight rope that was hanging from the ceiling. Emmett took Jackson out of my hands and held him firmly in the crook of his arm. He gave the rope a tug and they were being pulled above ground. After a few minutes, Em reappeared, sans the baby. Jake grabbed the rope before scooping Ali in his arms. I was glad. Though she wasn't hurt much thanks to Jasper, she was still sore from... everything. He tugged the rope and was lifted.

Em held a hand out for me, and I took it; he was my hero. I clung to him as we were lifted up, but let him go once we were hoisted by other workers out of the hole, at a tunnel of sorts. I grabbed the rope there to make sure I didn't fall back as I crawled through the debris. Em was right behind me, making sure I got out safely. It seemed so simple now, my coming out of hell. But those moments it took to make it out would forever haunt me.

Chilled air blew across my face as we broke free of the rubble, and I welcomed it, breathing in the fresh, clean air. I stood for a few moments, just taking in it before Edward materialized before me.

Edward!

I jumped into his arms, needing to feel him, to be closer. I clung to him and crashed my lips to his. But he took it slowly, carefully, I guess some would say, and I realized he was most likely concerned about any injuries I might have. I huffed lightly and pressed my lips against his, thankful for everything he'd done, even when he wasn't with me, so I wasn't going to argue… for now. I was just glad to be there, in his arms, both of us and our families safe and sound.

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**A/N:** I'd love to know your thoughts. Take care. xoxo


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

**Edward POV**

It was taking too long! Panic crawled in my chest again, pushing aside the hope that I'd found upon hearing her voice. It seemed that as soon as I knew she was at least alive, every fear I had combined to overwhelm me. She could be injured; she could be bleeding out even as we worked to get to them. Alice…she'd had a baby in the middle of a tornado. She needed care! It was too early, and the fact that she'd gone into labor at the stress wasn't good. It could've been as a result of high blood pressure. They hadn't said anything about Jasper. Was he okay?

And the baby… it was too noisy to hear anything more, with all the metal and rubble being moved. I couldn't help but worry about the baby. A newborn born in the worst of conditions; he or she was a miracle. It was a wonder that any of them were alive, considering what they were buried under.

As hysteria threatened to take over, I forced myself to take a deep breath. "Edward, breathe." I needed to at least touch Bella, to kiss her and know she was okay. I could handle anything after that.

"Stop!" Mack, the man in charge, yelled out.

When the noise stopped, we could all hear the groaning sounds coming from the area. Mack and several others gathered in a huddle, and as they consulted on what to do, I felt like my heart would beat out of my chest. Thankfully, Jake made his way over toward them with Riley. Within a few seconds, he was pointing to his chest. They were arguing over something, but Riley was taking up for Jacob.

"Wonder what that's all about?" Carlisle said softly, stretching his muscles. We were exhausted and sore.

"I don't know, but if they don't hurry, I'm going to fucking explode."

The silence made me even more nervous; I couldn't hear the baby anymore. Thankfully, Jake and Riley began making their way back over to us.

"We've got to stop digging," Riley said.

"WHAT!" The word tore from me before I let him finish.

Jake knocked him in the shoulder. "Wait Edward…what Riley means is that we're too close and the debris is unstable. We gotta go in, and, since I had training with Search and Rescue, I volunteered."

"Jake…" I turned back to look at the mess in front of us "…I don't know. I don't want you to—"

"Whatever," he barked, accepting the fireman pants and jacket from the man who walked up and beginning to shrug into them. The thick material would help protect him from cuts and scrapes.

I was faced with being a hypocrite-not wanting Jake to put himself in danger, while at the same time thanking God that he was the one going in for them. Jake had been my best friend since kindergarten. He'd always been there for me and had even been the one to teach me to fight. I could still remember standing before Grammie with a busted lip and bleeding nose, Jake, in the same condition beside me.

"Grams, they called Edward gay because he was reading." Jacob had shrugged as if that was a good enough reason for us to have pummeled the three guys in the neighborhood.

Years later, we'd used the same fists to protect his cousin, Seth, who had come out. A bunch of bullies had surrounded Seth- and we'd surrounded them. I'd been the best man at Jake and Nessie's wedding, and I expected he would be at mine when I could finally find the balls to ask Bella to marry me. I'd stood beside him the day he'd buried his father, he'd stood by me at Grammie's funeral, tears falling down his face just like mine.

"Jake!" I stepped forward when he went to go.

"Dude! Don't embarrass me here," he snarked, but grinned back at me when he started forward.

"Where the hell you going?" I asked Emmett as he moved forward, as well.

With a goofy grin, he flexed his muscles. "See, here's where they define between the men and the boys. Wimpy doctors get to stay here, while the big, burly men go forth into battle." He blew a kiss at Carlisle and me, but his sarcasm at least ripped a bark of laughter out of both of us.

Several more followed them, protected by the heavy gear. And then with surgical precision, they began the delicate process of making a path toward where we knew the basement stairs should've been. Aided by a rope that they would use for leverage, the men began to work themselves slowly down the angled path they cleared.

My leg started jerking with nervous energy; Esme soothed me by coming over and making me sit. She handed me another sandwich and growled at me when I started to refuse.

"Edward, you are going to need your energy when she comes out of there. You're not proving anything by refusing to take care of yourself. You would expect Bella to do that, right? If the situation was reversed?"

I couldn't argue against her logic. Carlisle sat beside us, and she gave him the same lecture. I choked down the food and water while we watched the area that had been spotlighted. It was three o'clock in the morning, and in the distance, I could see other similarly lit areas. The sound of the generators was a low drone across the area. At times, I could hear the occasional yip of one of the dogs in the distance.

It was then that the enormity of the situation hit me. A damn tornado had hit in the middle of the city. Like a kid skipping, the damn thing had bounced here or there, setting down like a fickle bird. I was certain that when day broke, we'd find that there were places where a barely damaged house or business stood beside a demolished structure. Kids in the school would relay stories of how they heard the "train sound" and felt the building shake, but how the structure held firm, the storm turning its rage on the library. Pictures of twisted trees that had fallen into beds of manicured flowers, like the Ying and Yang of creative nature, would be posted as to the capricious nature of the storm. And stories of life and death would abound.

But, I could only focus on four lives.

So I started praying. I was selfish, focusing on my family, begging for a miracle, promising to do better, to finally find a way to ask Bella to make me an honest man. I pulled at my hair, beat my fist on my leg, and did everything but fall to my knees and raise my hands to the heavens. Then, realizing what an ass I was being, I prayed for all the others-the families that had lost everything today, like us. I prayed for the injured, and the dead. I prayed for Felix and his family, who I was certain was probably frantically trying to reach him; Jane who might still be waiting at the airport if the authorities hadn't found her. I prayed for the faces I'd covered up with sheets and the unknown families behind them. I prayed for the rescuers, firemen and medical personnel who were here to help.

I prayed for strength.

"Edward," Carlisle said softly, nudging my leg to bring me back around.

One of the guys was waving at us, gesturing for us to come over. I didn't have to be asked twice. I picked through the area quickly and gasped, as did Carlisle, when we saw the tunnel of sorts, that they'd created.

"Bella! Bella, what's wrong?!" Jake's voice boomed back up to us, wiping all thoughts away.

I started cussing, images of her hurt, torturing me. My heart jumped out of my chest, and I felt as if I was going to fall over in a heart attack. I wanted to lunge into the space after them, but Jake's voice must have startled the baby, because it started wailing. There was a commotion from below and then I heard Jake chuckling. Bastard! This wasn't the time!

"JACOB!" My voice was a roar.

"Edward! She's fine," he yelled back up.

"E! Babe!" Bella's voice came clearly then, and I wanted to shout.

"Bella!" I called back. When I didn't get an answer for a minute, I started to panic, then stopped breathing as I saw Emmett coming out, carrying something.

Cradled in his beefy arms and protected by the heavy fireman's jacket was a squalling baby… a boy. He was extremely unhappy, his newborn eyes squinted shut from the bright lights.

"Thank God!" Carlisle said quickly, moving to take the baby from our brother. Esme wrapped him in a blanket as I could see Carlisle quickly scanning him. I felt I could breathe again when Carlisle's lips quirked into a smile, but my attention was captured by Emmett moving back down into the tunnel.

The sounds of more movement captured my attention, and I watched as Jacob came next, Alice cradled in his arms. She had several gashes across her arms and some blood that had streaked down her face from an injury just at her hairline. But I could see that she was okay-or as okay as anyone could be after giving birth in a major disaster. Jake handed Alice to another paramedic, who started jogging toward the ambulance across the way, following the fireman that had taken the baby.

"Jasper?" Alice asked with some strength.

"I got him, Ali," Jacob swore. I knew the nuances of Jacob's voice better than anyone other than his wife. Jasper might be injured, but in Jacob's assessment of him in that basement, he'd determined that our friend would be fine.

Then everything else faded away. For struggling up from hell was my Bella! Emmett was behind her, and I could tell he was making sure she didn't fall.

Dirty, ragged, covered in blood, she emerged more beautiful than any other moment in our existence. For she was alive, and the possibility that I might have lost her made the moment one I would never forget. I didn't remember moving, but suddenly I was before her, and she leaped into my arms.

Our lips met, unable to be separated any longer; the kiss was soft, a reconnection versus a frantic reunion. But it was enough, for now, as I was afraid she had injuries she wasn't even aware of yet. Brushing our lips together gently, I couldn't help but press mine to hers time and time again before pulling her against me.

"Babe…" she gurgled through the tears, wiping her face back and forth across my chest.

Even though I'd gently wrapped my arms around her, I could still feel her flinch, and I knew that a more passionate welcome would have to wait until I could check her over. For now, I just rocked back and forth with her in my arms. Words couldn't describe the feeling of relief and happiness that I felt that I could hold her against me. Softly brushing my hands over her skin, I just kept making hushing noises at her sobs.

"I'm here, angel. I'm here," I reassured her as she began babbling about the fear of losing me, of losing us. The heat of her blazed against me, reassuring me that she was real and not a figment of my imagination, while my words seemed to do the same for her. Finally, I felt her shudder against me.

"I ran…as soon as I saw the funnel. But it was like my feet wouldn't move fast enough."

"Angel… Oh God. I thought… Bella… I..." I couldn't form a sentence and leaned down to kiss her forehead regardless of the blood and mess. "Love, I… Dammit… are you okay?" I asked, finally pulling back to look at her, only to have her tug at my scrubs, bringing me back flush to her.

"I'm fine, as long as I'm in your arms. E, I love you," she said on a sob.

A bark of laughter tore from my chest. "I love you too, Isabella Swan. Every day for the rest of my life and then forever."

Allowing the peace at holding her to seep through my bones, I kept murmuring words of love and comfort. It took one of the emergency personnel to tap me on the shoulder twice before reality interfered in our reunion.

"Doctor Cullen. I need to get her to the hospital."

Finally turning to him, I realized that we had an audience-the guys that had helped all stood just feet from us. They were beaming, dirty angels. "Thank you!" I mouthed, and squeezed Bella just a tad tighter, knowing I was a lucky man, and that they'd all played a part.

I didn't want to move from here, only wanting to hold her just a while longer, but I knew she needed to be checked out, and by someone other than my emotional ass. But Bella refused to move until Jasper was escorted out by Jake. He was the worse for wear. Holding his arm to his stomach protectively, he moved slowly. A large gash across his face was still pouring blood, and I could also see a large tear in his blood stained jeans. I suspected that there would be another large gash on his thigh. He needed medical attention immediately.

Picking Bella gently up, I walked behind the stretcher they'd forced Jasper onto, toward an awaiting ambulance. That the guys around us all yelled out in victory only made my smile larger. The hope in my heart for what tomorrow would bring filled me to overflowing.

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**A/N:** I'd love to know your thoughts. Take care. xoxo


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

**Bella POV**

"Bella, you've been awake for hours now. You need your rest," Edward argued.

I ripped my eyes away from the computer screen and looked at my boyfriend. "Fuck you," I said flatly before returning to Supernatural and Jensen Ackles. I knew my unholy preoccupation with a Hollywood man drove Edward crazy.

And, the fucker knew not to interrupt me when I was watching it. God, I'd been keeping up with the show ever since it came out, but I'd missed last night's because I was kinda buried under a ton of brick and stuff. Unfortunately, I'd only realized this after having my snack (which, by the way, was disgusting) and chatting with Ali about the baby and her date with Jasper next week. Now, Edward was bugging me to take a nap in the middle of the episode. His defense was that it was on On Demand, so I could pause it and watch it when I woke up. I'd told him he was being ridiculous.

He sighed. "Bella."

It was a pretty sigh, but I growled anyway. "Edward Anthony Cullen, I am this close to wringing your neck right now. I know you love me and care about me, but it's only thirty-seven more minutes. So, if you don't mind, either get the hell out or stop talking."

He kinda looked shocked at that one.

Holy shit, yeah, um, the hospital's not my scene, 'kay?

But there was a reason I was being Bitchamatic. Edward had forced me to stay here, or at least that was my suspicion. I was just guessing he'd talked his doctor friends into ordering a 12 hour observation - so I was letting him know what I thought about it.

Then I looked over to see his face and realized that the only reason he was being a jackass was to protect me. He loved me and only wanted what was best.

The thing was, I'd wanted to go to Esme's home and spend the day in bed with him instead.

But I knew I had to fix this immediately.

"Come 'ere." I scooted over and patted the space near me. When he glared at me, I poked my lip out and reached for his hand, pulling him out of the seat beside the bed and onto it with me. I didn't like that he was that far away, though it was my fault. He sighed and took his shoes off to make himself comfortable. I threw my arm around his waist and my head over his heart. "I'm sorry. I just..." I tried to give him a justifiable answer, but couldn't find one - well, other than I was being a bitch. "I just wanted it, the routine. I don't want to be here; I want to be at Esme's place, with you, snuggling, not here in the damn hospital, where I can't have my way with you." I waggled my eyebrows at him, and saw his glare cracking. He was trying not to smirk. "Babe…" I stifled a quick sob "I just don't want to feel like I missed something. I want normalcy. I know you were worried so much last night, but—"

"Shhhh..." Edward pinched my lips together, and when I looked up at him, he was smiling. Just like that, we were okay. He simply leaned down to kiss my forehead and wrapped his arms around me. I settled back down to my spot on his chest. I didn't know how, but his chest was comfortable to lay on, even though he worked out twice a week.

The room was quiet for the next forty-five minutes and I lay there, simply absorbing the absolute fuckery that was ensuing on the computer screen. I soon realized that wrapping my head around that would be impossible. Apparently, a tornado I could handle, but that...nope. I should've just listened to Edward's advice and just went to sleep. So I sat up to inform him of my wise choice, and I realized that he was fast asleep. His head was rolled to the side, and his mouth hung slightly open.

I'd always loved watching him sleep. He looked so adorable and peaceful. There had always been a child-like innocence about him when he slept that contradicted his mature mind and ability to bring me to the brink of orgasm within minutes.

We'd had a hell of a day and night, and I knew he'd worked like the devil at the hospital before coming to the tornado scene. He'd been full speed when we first arrived back at the hospital, running around to check on me, Alice, Jasper and Jackson, but I'd seen his tiredness as the day wore on. It was one of the reasons I'd wanted to go home, but no - Edward had been adamant. He thought nothing of comfort in the face of my safety. So, he'd sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair all day watching over me, while I imitated Grumpy, the dwarf.

I gazed at his handsome face, committing it to memory, when I noticed that we didn't have a blanket. I slipped out of the bed and grabbed the afghan that Esme had brought over from her couch. Then, climbing back into bed, I cocooned us both in it to take a nap.

I woke up to a commotion. It wasn't loud per se, but more a death-glare-staring-contest type, and the two contestants were Emmett and my nurse, Rosalie. Judging from the confusion on Emmett's face and the defiance on Rose's, I could safely assume that Emmett had made some senseless lewd comment and gotten his ass handed to him, because Rose wasn't one to take bullshit. I watched with amusement as Rose turned to me as if nothing had happened and asked how I was feeling. I simply nodded to her, so she smiled back.

"I'm gonna go check on that handsome man of ours." Rose winked at me, referring to Jackson. He'd barely even open his eyes, and he had Rose wrapped around his little finger. He was adorable, I had to admit - now that he was warm and fed and not crying.

Yes, she was both my and Jackson's nurse upon Carlisle's request and Aro's orders. Nurse Carmen had gotten the happy couple, who were actually quite grumpy, maybe even more so than me. Jasper cursed so prettily with his southern charm, but it hadn't gotten him far. Carmen had them in separate beds, no matter their schemes.

But back to the ice queen and the he-man.

It was obvious that I'd missed something as I was day-dreaming because the next thing I knew, Emmett was on the floor. Rose had kneed him, then stepped over his prone body to exit the door.

"Rosalie, wait," he gasped out and somehow pushed to his knees and then feet, diving out the door after her.

I tried not to snicker, thinking that I would wake Edward, but then his soft whisper told me that I didn't have to worry.

"Hmmm…I think we've just met Mrs. Bottomless Pit," my own personal doctor said softly, causing the hair to stir just behind my ear.

Oh God, I hoped so. I liked her a lot, and she could definitely keep up with Emmett while keeping him on his toes. Grinning, I turned over to face Edward, running my finger up his chest slightly. "Yeah… something tells me we just did."

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**A/N:** I'd love to know your thoughts. Take care. xoxo


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

**Edward POV**

A soft breeze played over my face, waking me. I immediately looked over to the beauty asleep beside me, to reassure myself she was really there. I'd done it several times throughout the night when my nightmares had become too graphic. It was not yet sunrise, but I could see her in the light from the living room. Carlisle and Esme had offered for us to stay at the house, and we'd had to take them up on that offering while we figured out what to do, just as Jasper, Alice and Jackson would have to do when they were released from the hospital.

After being released from the hospital after Bella's twelve hour observation, we'd needed some privacy and rest. So for the next two days, I'd pulled several favors and gotten me and Bella an elaborate suite at the Skirvin Hilton. I was afraid that the sounds of the recovery would still be too loud at Carlisle's, and I didn't want anything to bother Bella.

And my concerns had been proven right. In the middle of the night, she'd woken up in a cold sweat, crying out for me. "Edward! Don't leave me!" she'd shouted, causing my heart to break.

The feeling of being closed in had been too much, which is why we were currently laying on a chaise lounge on the small patio. It reminded me a lot of the large one we'd had at the house. We'd spent several nights out under the stars, taking advantage of the cool temperatures to use the space as an outdoor bedroom.

No more, I thought sadly. Our beautiful home, the one we'd worked so hard to build, was gone, reduced to nothing in just mere minutes. We'd lost everything but my car and the few things we'd left at Carlisle and Esme's for nights where we'd partied too hard and didn't want to drive home. I was appreciative that Carlisle had brought us a bag from his house, so that we had at least a few familiar things. I was infinitely grateful for one thing in particular, one that I hadn't shared with Bella yet, but planned to do so before we left this oasis.

Regardless, we were lucky. I thought of the numbers the news was already reporting. Hundreds dead and as many still missing. The recovery effort would most likely go on for days, and the funerals and memorials would spread into the next week. We had our own mourning to do. We'd be leaving for Chicago the day after tomorrow to attend Felix's funeral. We were going to have to drive, because Bella's IDs had been lost in the storm, and we didn't have the time to replace them and get a plane ticket.

I was worried that the drive would be too hard on Bella, but she'd insisted, rolling her eyes at my over-protectiveness. Luckily, we'd both been too tired to fight about it, crashing to sleep as soon as we'd brushed our teeth and taken showers. The only romantic thing we'd done was fall asleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

But as I watched her sleep and saw the sky begin to lighten, I knew there would be no better time and place to do what I needed to do. The horizon promised hope, the dawning of a new day, a day where new choices could be made and life celebrated.

I moved softly away from her and watched as her arms twitched, reaching for me. I had to hurry. Running to the bedroom, I searched in the bag, bringing out the box I'd had Esme hide for me at their house. Bella was a snoop - if I'd kept it at ours, she would've found it. At least my desire to be sneaky had saved something.

Within a minute, I was back in Bella's arms, kissing her face gently to wake her. I wanted to greet the sunrise in a special way.

"Hmmm…" she murmured, stretching against me before running her knee up my leg enticingly. When she came up against the part of me that was very happy to see her, she smiled seductively. "Hmmm... maybe I should say, _good_ morning to you."

Chuckling at her playfulness, I kissed her lips softly, nipping her bottom lip playfully, before dragging my scruff against her neck softly.

Her reaction was half a groan of pleasure and the other half snickering.

"Oh my God, Edward, stop!" she finally snorted, laughing hysterically until she was pulling in gasps of air. Thankfully, her ribs hadn't been cracked or bruised. The scratches and wounds on her back and arms would heal.

Placing her hands on my cheeks, she ran her fingertips along my cheekbones. Her eyes sparkled brightly as she traced my features. I knew what she was feeling - the need to make sure everything was fine. I gently leaned over to kiss the strip of gauze at her hairline. She had a few more cuts here or there, a sprained ankle, but she was going to be fine.

Threading her fingers through my hair, she pulled me to her for a kiss. "I thought I might not ever see you again." Kiss, kiss. "I kept remembering what you said, that we'd never be separated." Kiss, kiss. "I knew you would come for me." Kiss, kiss. "My E-man."

My lips curved into a smile at her nickname for me. I was surprised she hadn't come up with a pajama outfit yet with the E shield in blue and red. Kissing down the line of her throat, I scraped the scruff across the collar of the loose t-shirt she was wearing, pushing it down so that I could kiss my tattoo. I could feel the rapid beating of her heart under my lips.

As much as I would like to claim responsibility for what happened, I couldn't.

"Love, I'm not responsible for anything that happened. Emmett and Jacob - even Riley - they're the ones that made it all come together. Ask Em, he'll tell you. In fact, I think my manhood was called into question at one point."

A tug on my hair caused me to move my lips from where I worried her skin. When our eyes met, I saw the deep chocolate of hers watching me lovingly.

"Babe, that's not exactly how I heard it." She grinned broadly. "Let me see… a chaotic redhead, tugging at his hair and pacing in between helping other people to live. Screaming that he would go in himself. Holding a woman's hand while he doctored her - and may I say that woman plans to off me and get to you even if she is fifty years your elder. Talk about a cougar." She made a 'tsking' sound in the back of her throat and laughed hard at my face. It was a shock that Ms. Brewer would think about me that way - seriously. "Someone diving toward the house when he saw it, refusing to leave and go back to where he was 'supposed to be.' Threatening Emmett…" She smoothed her hands down to rest on my shoulders. "I also heard that you were first to start picking up the rubble once you heard Jackson crying."

She ran her fingertip down my chest.

"For a wimpy doctor… you did kinda good."

So, Emmett had been the one to tell her.

I was distracted when one of her hands slid around my waist and squeezed my ass. When she waggled her eyebrows at me, I started to lunge for her, but stopped myself. _Must focus._

"Bella, when I realized that our neighborhood had been hit, I thought my heart would stop. But when Emmett told me that our house had been destroyed, it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. And as the hours flew by, I thought I was going crazy; you can't even imagine the thoughts that were going through my head." Closing my eyes, I laid my head against her chest. For a moment, the fear flowed through again, and I was close to shaking.

Pushing back up, I looked into her eyes. "I wish that there was a better way for me to really say how I feel about you."

_Just get to it, Edward!_ I heard my inner voice screaming at me, so, reaching back to the decking behind me, I pulled the box into my hand and then turned back to her, slipping off the chaise lounge and to my knees before her.

I saw the moment she realized what I held and what was about to happen. Her eyes widened adorably.

"I've had this for a while, but I haven't had the guts to ask you. I was waiting for the 'right time,' wanting to make it special. I was thinking of our vacation to Cancun coming up, envisioning a romantic beach proposal. I was building myself up to it." I shrugged. "But as I waited helplessly, not knowing whether or not I would get the pleasure to hold you again, I knew that I'd allowed my fears to make me a fool."

Opening the blue box, I shook the inner ring case out and flipped it open.

Bella gasped, seeing the simple solitaire. Even with Alice's help, I hadn't been able to decide on anything more elaborate, so I planned to take Bella with me to the store to decide on a wedding band and whether or not she wanted a more elaborate setting for the pear shaped diamond. For now it was in a simple platinum band.

"Love…" I chuckled softly, "…that word, well it doesn't even come close to defining how I feel about you. You are my everything, Bella. My heart beats for you; my whole world revolves around you. When we are apart, I always feel as if the better half of me is missing. The day you walked into that psych class and into my life was the best moment of my life. And although we've lost everything, it took that to happen for me to realize I couldn't wait one more moment - fears, doubts, and insecurities be damned - to ask you to be my wife."

Taking the ring out of the box, I grasped it between my fingers and held it out to her. She'd sat up, putting her legs around me where I was kneeling, and I smiled as the sun broke on the horizon, sending soft rays of light down onto us, highlighting the reds, purples, blues and green in her hair. It seemed prophetic.

"A new day, a new chance to live our lives, one we've definitely been graced with. Isabella Swan, will you do me the honor of spending every new day for the rest of our lives together? Will you do me the extraordinary honor of being my wife?"

A little gasp was my only warning before she lunged at me, knocking the ring out of my hand and to the floor. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she said as she peppered kisses across my face. She squealed and all but fell out of the chair into the floor to straddle me.

But when our lips met, the ring and her answer were forgotten for several minutes, as I kissed her the way I'd wanted to when she was rescued. I pulled her to me, and bit back a moan as she snuggled tightly to me. Our breaths mingled between kisses as our hands roamed against skin.

When she went to undress me, I stopped her for a moment. "Wait. Bella, let me get your ring." Because as soon as our clothes were gone, I planned to be distracted for a very long time.

Then she giggled at me as I had to get down on hands and knees to look under the chair we'd been sleeping on. Sliding it across the knuckle of her ring finger made me feel so possessive that I wanted to take her right then. She must have seen the lust in my eyes because she groaned.

"Why a pear shape, Edward?"

She knew me too well, that I would have bought something with significance.

It was my turn to blush - damn my Irish Grandfather. I was certain my face was as red as my hair. "It's the shape of a tear. So when I make you cry, which I will, you'll be able to look down at it and remember you promised to be mine through it all."

She chuckled and then shook her head at me. "You goof!"

All I could do was shrug. It was true.

"Edward, do you think that you could forget that I was in the hospital yesterday?" I shook my head in confusion, and she smirked in a devious fashion. "Because, although I love it when you make love to me, um… I'm kinda hoping for some fast and furious right now."

My mouth dropped, and then a bark of laughter tore out of me. Standing, I reached down to pull her into my arms. "I think I can handle that, Bella." Feeling her healthy and safe in my arms, I felt the fire in my blood. "Yeah, I can _definitely_ handle that."

The sun rose in the horizon and then through the bedroom windows we'd left open, streaming over us as I ravished my fiancée. Like so many others, we would have to start over, start from the beginning. But we were blessed. We had insurance, our family and friends to support us, our health, and the hope that each day would bring. As the sun rose higher, highlighting the time we spent in bed, first in frantic coupling, then later in slow lovemaking, I knew the most important things I had were Bella, her love for me… and the promise of our little piece of forever.

_~Fin~_

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**A/N:** I _was_ going to update yesterday since it was my birthday, but I got dragged out of the house, so here it is. Also, y'all know that the best belated birthday gifts are reviews, right? ;D

Dear readers/reviewers,

This was an amazing journey for me. It was my first collab and I'm pretty sure the longest fic I've written. I am _so_ glad you came along with me for this ride. Even though I haven't done review replies, I read every single review and they made me laugh and smile. I _will_ reply every single one, just give me some time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support that you have given throughout this.

To Content1,

I absolutely _loved_ writing this with you, and as creepy as this may sound, I liked seeing how your brain works. LOL Anyway, if y'all don't know this gurl, you need to drop everything and go read her fics NOW! Everything is complete since she's leaving/taking an indefinite break from fandom *sob* so GO CHECK IT OUT!

To Astro,

You're a friggin' rockstar for making this so pretty and readable. Seriously though, if it weren't for you, the fic would be drowning in ellipses. :) I love you girlie! *hugs* Thank you.


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